Papa, Acchan, and Me
by VitameatavegaminGirl
Summary: AU where Alois and Ciel are brothers. They have to separate and Ciel ends up being taken in by Dr. Sebastian Michaelis. Any information other than this you'll have to find out by reading it. XP (No Pairings)
1. Chapter 1

_Someone…help us!_

 _Please!_

 _Anyone!_

 _Help us, please!_

1883, England, mid-winter. This is the stage of a tragic parting between two brothers who loved each other more than life itself. Picture this: a ten-year-old blonde boy desperately clutching an injured, unconscious, younger child with hair so dark it looked navy blue. The blonde is crying loudly for help and can barely keep from falling face first into the knee deep snow.

Eventually, his legs gave out and he sunk into the cold, white powder, sobbing in terror and panic, "Someone! Please, help us!" He stared out at the far off forest, wishing he was stronger, faster, older, anything but what he was right now. As he was imagining all the ways he could be better, he noticed a small black dot. He frowned and squinted his eyes, trying to determine what it was. All he could see so far was that it was moving toward him and his still unconscious (and still bleeding) seven-year-old little brother. His whole body tensed in preparation to run. He really hoped it wasn't hostile but he was willing to rip anything that tried to hurt his baby brother into five pieces.

As it got closer the blonde realized that the figure was a person clothed in black. The blonde's breathing became erratic and he forced his body to obey his command to move. He snarled and wobbled a bit before collapsing back into the snow. His legs were stiff and unresponsive. A doctor probably would have told him that he was beginning to feel the effects of hypothermia, but there wasn't any such doctor to tell him that so he was simply frustrated at his ineptitude. He looked up again to see how much more time he had before the black figure got to him. He jumped when he realized that the person was a mere twenty feet away. He gave a short cry and tried to scramble backwards out of harm's way. The figure (actually, it was a man) waved at him, attempting to show that he meant no harm. The blonde stopped struggling and waited tensely for the man to clear the distance between them. The man did so with astonishing speed and was kneeling by the boy's side in a matter of seconds.

He was breathing heavily from his run across the snowy plains, but he quickly gained his second wind and began asking the blonde some questions, "Who are you? Why are you out here? Are you hurt? Were you the one calling for help?"

The man paused and gave the boy some time to answer, "U-um…my…my name is A-alois and th-this," he lifted his little brother up a bit, "This is Ciel. H-he's my l-little brother. They hurt his eye. I'm fine, but they hurt his eye! Please, take him and run. They're coming," Alois looked over his shoulder and listened for voices. At first he didn't hear anything; it was rather early in the morning and he was pretty sure the guard he had knocked out hadn't been able to raise any alarm, but quite some time had passed since then and everyone must have been looking for them now. Just as he was about to sigh and relax he heard a shout. Then he heard another. And another. Soon the air was filled with shouts of, 'THEY ESCAPED! FIND THEM! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!' Alois shuddered and turned back to the black-clothed man, "Please! You have to take him and get away! I'll distract them, so please, go!" He shoved Ciel into the man's arms and struggled to his feet, adrenaline flooding into his veins.

"Hold on a second, Alois. What will happen if you get caught by…well…whoever it is you are running from?" The man accepted the small injured child but grabbed onto Alois's arm in an attempt to keep him from leaving.

Alois shook him off and said, "It doesn't matter if I get caught. I can deal with them. Ciel can't," he gently brushed a few strands of hair away from the child's face. A few tears slipped down his face as he continued, "Please, sir. Please save my brother. Please…" Alois scrubbed the tears off his face with a shaking hand and looked up at the man pleadingly.

The man tried to convince the blonde to come too, but Alois was adamant. Eventually, the man sighed and nodded slowly, "All right. I'll take this boy, but I promise that I will find you, Alois. I promise."

Alois gave a short laugh and smiled happily, "Okay. I can live with that, Mr.…uh…"

"Sebastian," the man bowed his head politely as he introduced himself, "Sebastian Michaelis."

Alois smiled again, sadly this time, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Sebastian. Please take care of Ciel. Goodbye." With that Alois turned around and ran in the direction of the now chaotic yelling. Sebastian started at his sudden movement but figured there was nothing more he could do for the blonde, aside from taking care of the child in his arms and, eventually, making good on his promise.

Sebastian quickly stood to his feet and began running in the direction opposite of that which Alois had taken. He was gently cradling the injured boy in his arms and planned to get a good look at him once he got the child back to his home. It took him ten minutes to reach his waiting carriage and another twenty to get back to his beautiful cottage.

Before continuing with the story I suppose I should tell you a little bit about 'Sebastian Michaelis.' Mr. Michaelis is an esteemed doctor who usually lives in London but every winter he leaves his London home and migrates north (for some reason he absolutely adores cold weather) to Pickering. He doesn't take any servants, or work related items and he doesn't tell anyone how to contact him. It is his one vacation and he spends it alone and peacefully. Dr. Michaelis is twenty-something and a natural born lady-killer. Although he isn't married (and doesn't plan on ever really settling down), he doesn't mind going out with women and definitely enjoys watching them swoon over him. He also loves cats and takes in strays all the time (much to my annoyance and frustration). He can be rather strict at times but for the most part he is very gentle and kind with those close to him.

All right then, as I was saying, Sebastian arrived at his cottage around thirty minutes after leaving Alois. When he got back, he quickly dismounted from the driver's seat (he didn't even bring a coachman to drive him around) and took Ciel out of the carriage where the doctor had laid him. While he had been running he gave the boy a cursory examination and noticed that, other than his bloody eye (an injury the doctor would definitely have to get a better look at), he didn't seem to have any critical wounds. Sebastian quickly tramped through the snow and up his porch. He stomped his feet up and down to rid them of snow and pulled out his keys. He had just gotten the key in the lock when the door was pulled open, revealing a grinning man wearing a long black overcoat decorated with a dark grey sash and a chain carrying six mourning pendants. He laughed at Sebastian's utterly shocked face and said, "Shishishi!Welcome home, my friend! Did you have a nice ride?"

Sebastian blinked and stuttered out, "H-h-how?"

"Oh come now, Sebastian!" The man giggled and brushed some of his long grey hair away from his eyes, "You and I both know that you don't rely on me for info because of my ravishing looks!" He struck a silly, modelesque pose and laughed happily.

Sebastian snorted and rolled his eyes, ignoring the snarky comment. He knew that the man was good at gathering information but this was ridiculous, "What are you doing here, Undertaker?" The doctor brushed past his friend and waltzed into his parlor.

" _Gufufufu!_ I was bored and figured you were free. I didn't expect you to be gone when I got here though." The mortician chuckled and followed behind him. "So? Who is the boy?"

"Well, his brother told me that his name is Ciel," Sebastian laid the boy down on his couch and went to go find his doctor's bag. He may leave work at home but he never, ever, went anywhere without his bag. As he searched around for it, he told Undertaker all that had transpired in the past hour or so. He was just at the part where Alois begged him to take his baby brother, when the real deal woke up and began panicking.

"Wh-where am I?! What's goin' on? Where's Acchan?" Ciel sat up and looked around fearfully.

Sebastian came over and hushed him gently, "Shh…it's okay, Ciel. Your brother, Alois, told me to take care of yo-"

"Acchan! I wanna see my Acchan!" The blue-haired boy began crying and tried to rub the tears away from his eyes. Unfortunately, Sebastian hadn't gotten a chance to patch the injured one up yet, so when his hand made contact with the open wound, he screamed in pain and clutched it.

"NO, CIEL!" Sebastian grabbed the boy's hands and forced them away from his face. He motioned for Undertaker to come over and give him a hand, "Undertaker, hold down his hands while I take care of his eye."

Undertaker quickly did as he was told, saying, "Ne, Ciel-kun?" Ciel was still struggling against him so he repeated himself, "Ne, Ciel-kun? Please answer me."

Ciel let out another sob and choked out, "What?"

"Would you mind telling me about your Acchan?" Undertaker shook his head to move his bangs out of his face (since his hands were occupied with keeping Ciel from further hurting himself) and smiled kindly at the boy.

Ciel hiccupped a few times before responding, "Mmm…what should I tell you 'bout him?"

"You can tell me anything about him, Ciel. Anything at all."

"W-well then, um…he is ten years old. His birthday was last month," Ciel tilted his head to the side and gave a small giggle, "We weren't allowed to actually celebrate it, but Hannah slipped us some cake while no one was looking. Acchan and I gave her a big hug for that! Hannah's always really nice to me an' Acchan." The little boy laughed again, this time more cheerfully. As he was talking, Sebastian continued to work on his eye. The doctor was appalled at how badly mangled Ciel's eye was. At first, Sebastian had presumed that the injury was located more above the boy's actual eye socket, but as it appeared as if someone had purposefully aimed at the eye and made sure that there was no way for it to be fixed.

Sebastian swore silently, _How could they do something like this to a child?_ He thought furiously, _He's just a little boy!_ His anger must have shown on his face, however, because he instantly felt Ciel shrink away from him. When he looked up he saw the child was staring at him with wide eyes (well, I guess I should say, with a wide eye). He forced himself to relax and smile gently, "It's okay, Ciel, I'm not mad at you."

"R-really?" came the frightened reply.

Sebastian chuckled in amusement, "Really. I'm just a little worried about your eye. You will never see out of it again."

"What's wrong with it?" Ciel blinked and tilted his head in confusion.

The doctor was silent for a moment. He had dealt with patients that screamed, cried, bled, cursed, slept, and any number other of things, but asking what was wrong with an open wound was definitely a first. Sebastian cleared his throat and said, "Well…um…your eye has been partially gou-"

"Sebastian!" Undertaker cut him off mid-diagnosis with a scold, "He is far too young to hear something like that!"

The doctor flinched at the reprimand but quickly responded with, "He has a right to know what happened to him! I know that it will be a shock but even if I didn't tell him, he'll find out eventually. Don't you think it would be better for me to tell him now so he knows what to expect the next time he looks in the mirror?" Undertaker grumbled but finally nodded his consent. Sebastian then sighed and looked back at his small patient, "All right. Now then, where was I…"

"'Your eye has been partially…'" Ciel tilted his head and gave the doctor a small smile, "I don't know what you were gonna say after that."

Sebastian chuckled and continued, "As I was saying, your eye has been partially gouged out and the upper and lower lids have been mutilated beyond recognition. I know it sounds gruesome but you are going to have to get used to it," he took Ciel's hands from Undertaker's grip and squeezed them gently, "Unfortunately, your eye will never heal. You will have to live with this scar for the rest of your life. I'm really sorry, Ciel. I wish there was more I could do." He smiled sadly at his little guest and softly stroked the backs of the tiny hands nestled in his own. Sebastian didn't say anything out loud, but he noticed that Ciel's hands were very thin and both his wrists and ankles were bony and fragile looking. The doctor realized that Ciel was suffering from malnutrition and decided to do something about it. "Undertaker, why don't you make some of your famous spaghetti while I clean Ciel up and get him something warm to wear."

Undertaker blinked twice, before cackling happily (making Ciel jump with a small yelp). His spaghetti was famous for its incredible taste yet utterly unappealing looks. Sebastian had been brave enough to try it once and was on his second serving before the mortician had even finished his first. As he was stumbling into the kitchen, still chuckling merrily, Sebastian lifted Ciel into his arms and carried him up to his bathroom where he proceeded to thoroughly scrub the squirming little boy clean of all dirt. After both Ciel and Sebastian had been soaked to the core (recall that Ciel was the one needing a bath, not the fully clothed Sebastian; he still teases me for that), the doctor toweled Ciel off and went to scrounge up some clothes for them to change into. He was able to quickly find an outfit for himself to change into but finding something for Ciel deemed to be much harder. He tore apart every room in the house searching for clothing suitable for a child. Nothing he found even came close. Eventually, he gave up and sank down amid the piles and piles of adult-sized pants, shirts and jackets. Sebastian growled in frustration and angrily scratched his hands through his hair.

While the doctor was berating himself for not keeping a child's outfit (though, honestly, I think it would have been stranger for him to have had children's clothes simply lying around somewhere), Ciel watched him in curiosity, wrapped up in a blanket Sebastian had given him for the time being. When Sebastian finally admitted defeat to the vast multitude of clothes he owned (I mean really, how many articles of clothing did one bachelor need in his vacation home no less), the little boy giggled and shuffled over to him. "It's all right, Mr. Sebastian," Ciel gently stroked the irritated man's dark (and surprisingly silky) hair and continued, "I can just wear my old clothes. I don't mind! It's nice and warm in this place and I'm really happy!" His smiled faded a little and he said, "I wish my Acchan was here though. I miss him a lot. He always took good care of me and I really miss him." Ciel hugged his blanket closer to his body and sighed, "If he were here, he would have teased you to no end for not bein' able to find something for someone so small. Acchan loves to tease people! Though it does get him in trouble sometimes."

Sebastian stared at Ciel for a moment. He looked sad. So very, very sad. Sebastian made up his mind, then and there, that he would do whatever it took to keep the child happy and healthy. He knew it would take time but the doctor was determined. He stood and scooped Ciel up. The boy was surprised at first but he giggled happily when Sebastian nuzzled him lovingly and said, "Don't worry, Ciel. I will bring your brother back to you. I promise. Do you understand me?"

Ciel nodded with a small smile and wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck, saying, "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Sebastian."

The doctor chuckled and patted his back gently, "You don't have to call me 'Mr. Sebastian.' Only my subordinates call me that."

Ciel leaned back and said, "Then, what should I call you?"

"Whatever you like, Ciel. I will answer you no matter what you call me." Sebastian smiled and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Ciel thought, and thought, and thought, before finally making a decision, "Oh! I know what I should call you!" He grinned, looked Sebastian right in the eye (who must have been hoping desperately that I hadn't picked something worthy of a two-year-old playmate), and said, with all the joy in the world, "Papa!"

Sebastian blinked once, twice and a third time before the word actually registered in his brain, "Papa?" He repeated, confused.

"Papa!"

"Why Papa, Ciel?" Sebastian was utterly flabbergasted.

"Cause Acchan's my big brother and I like to think of Hannah as my momma; so, you're Papa!" Ciel laughed cheerfully and hugged Sebastian again.

For the first time in Sebastian's life he couldn't think of a single thing to say. Instead of stammering and stuttering some lame excuse or stupid 'thank you,' he gave a soft laugh and rubbed his "son's" back comfortingly, "Okay, Ciel. I'm honored that you think so highly of me." Ciel purred and snuggled into Sebastian's strong hold.

The newly ordained father suddenly had a brilliant idea. He carried Ciel over to one of his windows and ripped one of the long curtains off its rod. He then walked over to the stairs (pleasantly surprised to smell that Undertaker's masterpiece seemed to be just about finished) and waltzed down them with a kind of flair that only came with high status and self-confidence. He gently set Ciel down on his chaise lounge and whirled around, curtain (and hair), flying. Ciel watched as Sebastian pulled out a sewing kit and began cutting and stitching the fabric like a mad man. Even Undertaker came out of the kitchen to watch him work. Thirty short minutes later, he revealed a nice looking outfit, consisting of a pair of child-sized slacks and a small button-up shirt. Ciel yipped excitedly and dashed over to inspect his new clothes. He felt the fabric, pulled gently at the seams and hugged them tightly. Sebastian and Undertaker both chuckled at his antics.

Ciel quickly pulled on the new clothes and looked up at Undertaker expectantly, "Uncle Undertaker? Is the food ready? I'm starved!"

"Uncle?" Undertaker glanced at Sebastian in surprise.

"That's right," the doctor smirked and said, "I'm Papa."

Undertaker attempted to hold in a snort of laughter, but he wasn't so successful. "Is that so," he chortled happily before continuing, "Well then, Ciel, dinner is all ready so why don't you go wash up while Sebastian and I set the table."

Ciel nodded and turned to obey. He stopped, though, and turned back around, a fair bit of confusion dancing across his face, "What's that mean?" Both of men could practically see the question marks dancing above his forehead.

Sebastian knelt down and said, "It means to go into the nearest washroom and wash your hands so you don't accidentally touch your food with dirty fingers. There is one just around the corner." He pointed in the direction of a hall and gave Ciel a slight push toward it, "Go on, Ciel. It's okay." The blue-haired boy nodded again and went to find out for himself what the word "washroom" meant exactly.

As he was fiddling with the sink handles and scrambling to keep the bar of soap in his grasp, Sebastian and Undertaker were having a quiet discussion.

"So, what now?" Undertaker brought out the bowl of steaming pasta (it looked absolutely disgusting) and looked through his long bangs at his friend.

Sebastian thought for a few moments before responding, "For the time being I'll take care of Ciel. I'm going to need your help in trying to find his brother again, though."

"Why? Can't we just go back to where you met him?"

"Well, I suppose we can try, but, a: I don't know what direction they came from and b: even if I was able to remember exactly where I found them," Sebastian growled his next few words, "Those monsters that they were with have probably moved to a new location by now." Before he said this, he happened to have picked up a water glass. After he said this, the glass in his hand shattered beneath his angry grip.

Undertaker chuckled darkly and said, "Don't worry, my friend," his green eyes glinted ominously and his smile would have frozen the most fearsome criminal in their tracks, "We'll find him. It may take some time but we'll find him."

Sebastian sighed and smiled at his kooky friend, "Thanks, Undertaker. It means a lot to me to have your support." Undertaker laughed and continued to set the table.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

Twenty minutes later, after the table had been set, the glasses filled with ice-cold water, and three plates had been loaded to the brim, Ciel still hadn't come out from cleaning up. Sebastian and Undertaker began to get worried. They got up from their chairs and tiptoed over to the washroom. What they saw nearly had them rolling on the floor in laughter. Ciel was sound asleep amid a mess of bubbles, water, and towels. He had tried his best to clean up, but nothing went well and he ended up having to bring out some towels to try to clean up the mess he had made while trying to clean himself up.

Sebastian quietly stepped over to the exhausted little boy and slowly lifted him up. Undertaker cooed and brushed a few strands of Ciel's hair out of his face. Sebastian carried Ciel up to a spare bedroom and waited for Undertaker to pull back the covers and fluff up the pillows a little. After laying the boy down he gently kissed his forehead and whispered, "Goodnight, Ciel. I'll see you in the morning." Ciel mumbled happily and rolled onto his side.

Undertaker giggled and stroked the child's dark hair. The two men then went back down-stairs and ate dinner, quietly talking and laughing amongst themselves. They retired at around midnight and went to their respective rooms to get some much needed sleep.

At one or two in the morning, Sebastian (a very light sleeper, unlike Undertaker who, no pun intended, always slept like the dead) sat up in his bed and listened carefully. He heard a faint crying sound coming from Ciel's room next door. He instinctively went into over-protective-papa-bear-mode and dashed over to his son's room. When he opened Ciel's door, he saw that the boy was flailing about on his bed, gripped by a terrifying nightmare. Sebastian took two steps and sat down on the edge of Ciel's bed. He took hold of Ciel's shoulders and shook them gently. "Wake up, Ciel," he said urgently, "Wake up! You're having a nightmare! It's okay."

After a few more moments of shaking (and, although he has never admitted it, he must have panicked a little too), Ciel finally awoke with a sobbing gasp and let out a short scream, "NO!"

He glanced frantically around but relaxed when Sebastian began rocking him back and forth as he whispered comfortingly to him, "Hush, Ciel. It's all right. I'm here. I'm right here…everything is going to be okay."

Ciel whimpered and clutched Sebastian tightly. Sebastian stayed there, rocking and whispering, until Ciel fell back asleep. Sebastian sighed quietly and tried to lay the boy back down, but Ciel whimpered again and tightened his hold. He really, really, didn't want Sebastian to leave. The doctor chuckled and stroked Ciel's dark hair.

Sebastian gathered Ciel into his arms and repositioned himself so that he was sitting against the headboard of Ciel's bed. Eventually, both had fallen fast asleep. It wasn't until the next morning, that Undertaker (who had gotten worried when they didn't come down for breakfast) came up and found them. Ciel was curled up in Sebastian's lap like a kitten, and Sebastian was smiling slightly while holding the boy gently in his arms.

Undertaker laughed softly and tiptoed over to the snoozing pair. "Sebastian?" He shook the man's shoulder in an attempt to wake him without disturbing Ciel and whispered, "Sebastian, wake up. It's nearly ten!"

Sebastian mumbled sleepily and sat up a little, "Whassat?"

"It's nearly ten!" Undertaker chuckled again and gave his friend's bed-head a little yank, "Don't you think you should get out of bed now?"

"Mmph…okay," Sebastian carefully placed Ciel down next to him and stretched like a cat. He then scooted off the bed, yawned, rubbed his eyes and shuffled back to his room to get ready for the day.

After putting himself together, he went downstairs to find that Undertaker had donned a frilly pink apron (I don't even want to know where that came from) and was humming as he flipped the most terrifying pancakes Sebastian had ever seen.

"Undertaker?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making pancakes, stupid!" Undertaker waved his spatula in the air and gave his friend a grin.

"Oh." Sebastian shrugged and tried his best not to look at the horrifying things. He was pretty sure they tasted great (as most of Undertaker's food does) but they sure did have the most…interesting appearances.

The two ate and talked for a while before they heard a sound from the stairs. When they looked up, they saw Ciel standing there (looking mighty adorable with his bed-head and rumpled clothing, if I do say so myself), rubbing his uninjured eye and yawning, "G'morning, Papa, Uncle Undertaker."

Sebastian chuckled and went over to him, "Good morning, Ciel. Did you sleep well?" He wanted to know if the boy still remembered his nightmare. After getting a nod, he sighed with relief, picked the still sleepy boy up and carried him down to the dining room. Ciel purred and snuggled into the strong, warm hold.

He may not have said anything aloud (and never did, now that I think about it) but Ciel was more happy in that one moment than any other time he would ever experience. In his mind, he trusted Sebastian and Undertaker a great deal more than he normally would have under normal circumstances. In fact, other than his brother, he had never fully trusted someone as much as he trusted these two men. He didn't even trust Hannah as much as he trusted Sebastian and Undertaker.

Ciel watched from Sebastian's lap as the two men talked and laughed. As he ate Undertaker's deliciously freaky pancakes, he allowed his thoughts to wander. _I hope Master is treating Acchan well. He has always liked us, but since Acchan tried to get us out Master might start hurting him._ Eventually, the blue-haired boy put down his fork, closed his eyes and slowly slumped against Sebastian. The doctor and mortician assumed he had fallen asleep and began to speak quieter. He wasn't actually asleep, but he let them think that (he was a lot smarter than they gave him credit for). _Hmm…I wonder what is going to happen from here on out. I know that Papa is willing to take care of me, but still. I don't wanna be a burden to him and I'm not sure that I'll be of much use to him, considering he seems to be a doctor._ At this point, Sebastian began rubbing small circles on Ciel's back (and no matter how many times he tells me that he did them on purpose, I am utterly convinced he did it unconsciously). Ciel purred and rubbed his cheek against Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian blinked at the unexpected noise and was quite happy to know that his new son was so similar to his favorite animal.

 _I'm so happy…_

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

After a while, Ciel really did fall asleep and when he did, he dreamed of being reunited with his brother and living happily ever after. I won't give away too many details, but I want you to know that, no matter how desperate or unbelievable, everything will work out in the end. Ciel's dream does come true, and I am the living proof of that.

You may not believe me, but this is a story about my family. I will try my best to relay the whole story, without bias, and give you all the details. I may have forgotten some things, but (seeing as how I am still pretty young and have various outside resources at my disposal) I will do my absolute best.

Thank you for choosing to read these chapters and I hope you enjoy the ride.

Yours truly,

Ciel P. Michaelis

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 **Please review! (Also, if anyone has a better suggestion for a title, please don't hesitate to tell me. I just kind of arbitrarily made it up.)**

 **:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry for the late update! My laptop broke about two weeks ago and I haven't been able to work on any of my main stories.**

 **I had know idea writer's withdrawal would be so hard! DX**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Ciel woke up the next day to find that his new uncle and father were arguing. About what he didn't know just yet. He got up from the couch he had been lying on and sat down at the table to observe.

"It should be obvious that I don't want anyone to know where I stay during my vacation!"

"You let me come by!"

"You figured it out on your own!"

"So? What's the difference? And besides, it's just Lau."

Ciel raised an eyebrow and thought, _Lau? I wonder who that is…_

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! You must remember that there is a CHILD here! Ciel is way too young to be around that…that…" Sebastian struggled to find the right word to describe the opium den owner, "NUTCASE!"

" _Mou, that's noooot very niiiice, Sebastian-saaan,_ " a tall Chinese man with a lilting voice slipped into the room from behind Ciel. The boy yelped as he was lifted in the air and cuddled. " _And besides, he is such a cute little child I'm sure he doesn't mind me. You don't mind me, do you little one?_ "

Ciel was frozen in utter terror. Thankfully, Sebastian noticed and quickly came to his rescue. He snatched the boy out of Lau's arms and began scolding the disappointed (yet still grinning) man, "Yes, as a matter of fact, he does mind! Ciel has been through a lot lately and there is no reason to frighten him even worse by having some random stranger picking him up and HUGGING HIM!"

Lau chuckled and smacked the side of his head to stop the ringing Sebastian's shout had invoked, " _Aaaa, so loud, Sebastian-saaan! Don't worry, I wasn't going to hurt him. He's just so cuuuute!_ " His words sent a chill up Ciel's spine so the boy whimpered and buried his face in Sebastian's neck.

Undertaker paled slightly. He was beginning to realize that Sebastian had been right. Lau was definitely not the right person to have told about Sebastian's hiding spot. The suddenly horrified man attempted to diffuse the situation by whipping out some dog-treat shaped cookies and offering them to Ciel, "Ne, Ciel-kun? Will you try one of my cookies?"

The little boy looked up and took it with a tiny smile, "Sure," he said before taking a bite and widening his eyes in delight, "Waa! It's so good, Uncle Undertaker!"

"Fufufu, I'm glad you like it, Ciel-kun." Undertaker grinned happily and offered him some more. Ciel gladly took them. As he was joyfully chomping on the cookies, Undertaker continued, "Lau, I know that I said it might be fun for you to come up here and surprise Sebastian, unfortunately, I don't think this is the best time for a visit. Why don't you go home and when Sebastian gets back he can drop by?"

The Chinese man opened his formerly closed eyes a tad and firmly stated, " _No. I don't want to,_ " he stroked Ciel's hair (once again making me freeze in alarm) before saying, " _I have taken a liking to this boy so I want to stay and get to know him better. Doesn't that sound like fun, little one?_ "

Like the night before, Sebastian's papa-bear instincts kicked in when he noticed Ciel's discomfort. He turned toward Undertaker, placed Ciel gently in his arms, grabbed Lau by the scruff of the neck, hauled him over to the door and, unceremoniously, threw him out. After closing, locking, and fortifying all the doors and windows in the house, he returned to Ciel and Undertaker. He regained possession of Ciel and sat down in his library to read something to him, in an attempt to calm both of them down.

He told Ciel to pick out a book and was surprised when the boy said nothing in response. Sebastian looked down at him and saw that he had his mouth open and was staring wide-eyed at the many, many books. Both Sebastian and Undertaker (who had followed them out of curiosity) chuckled at the sight. It took a few minutes for Ciel to regain his ability to speak, but when he did, a flood of questions rushed out, "How many books are there? Where did you get them all? How long are they? What kind? Acchan read to me a couple times before, but they were boring and he never got a chance to teach me. Could you teach me? I'd love to be able to read! Have you read all of them? Which one is your favorite? Can you read it to me? This is so cool!" The excited boy hugged Sebastian's neck and squealed happily.

Sebastian laughed and answered, "378. Bookstores from all over the world. The length of each book varies, but on average, I'd say that they are around three hundred pages each. Though some may be much longer or shorter. Again, it varies from book to book. Of course I'll teach you! Yes, I have. That is a rather difficult question. For the most part I have enjoyed most, if not all, of them, but of the books that are more suited for someone your age, I'd have to say that this one is my favorite," he walked over to a shelf and pulled a slightly tattered hardback off it. He handed it to Ciel and said, "It's called _Fenian Cycle_. My father gave it to me as a child and I named one of my servants after the main character."

"Why would you need to name a servant?" Ciel asked with more than a bit of confusion lacing his voice.

"I picked him up as an orphan who was a test subject in illegal scientific experiments, if you can call that cruelty 'science.' He had never had a name other than a number, so when he entered my home I gave him the name 'Finnian.' 'Finny' for short." Sebastian paused and glanced at Ciel, "When we get back to London, I'll introduce you to him and the rest of my servants."

Ciel smiled and nodded, "Okay! So…will you read the book?" When his answer was greeted by hearty laughter, he turned up the 'moe' and pleaded, "Pleeeease?!"

Sebastian (and Undertaker who was still observing the two) couldn't help but sigh at his adorableness. The doctor was planning on reading it to him anyway but the look made him agree much quicker, "Of course I'll read it to you Ciel." After that, he sat down, settled Ciel in a comfortable position, and began to read.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Three Days Later-Ͽ-Ͼ

"Papa! Papa! Come quick!" Ciel dashed around a corner and barreled into Sebastian.

The doctor stumbled backward, but caught the boy and said, "What's wrong, Ciel? Did you hurt yourself?"

Ciel shook his head and continued, "I'm fine! But you gotta come see this!" He dragged Sebastian to the front window and pointed to an odd looking spot on the snow. Sebastian strained his eyes to see that the spot was actually a tiny dog. Ciel tugged on Sebastian's sleeve and said, "We have to help it!"

Sebastian nodded as he rushed to the door and pulled his coat on. "Ciel, go get Undertaker and tell him to help you get some warm water and a bunch of towels and blankets. Understand?"

"Yes!" As Ciel rushed off to find Undertaker (who was in the kitchen making lunch; he had been designated full time chef), Sebastian quickly walked out the door and went to rescue the snowy pup. He gently gathered it into his arms and wrapped it in his coat to keep it warm. It felt icy cold but he would do his best to thaw the poor thing and make sure it lived.

Undertaker and Ciel were ready and waiting with the blankets, towels and warm water by the time Sebastian got back. Sebastian went into doctor mode and began barking (no pun intended) orders, "Undertaker, get one of the towels wet and start rubbing it gently. Ciel, form the blankets into a sort of nest." They both nodded and went to work. Ciel quickly constructed a rudimentary fort and Undertaker stroked the little dog with his warm towel. Sebastian ran to get his doctor's bag and, upon returning, took the dog's temperature, checked its heartbeat, and gave it a quick once over, looking for any injuries. It wasn't hurt so all he found out was that it was a couple months old and was male. He relaxed a little after realizing that the pup's life wasn't in any actual danger so, when Undertaker had sufficiently warmed it up, he told Ciel to get in the fort/nest he had made and keep the animal warm until it woke up. Ciel happily complied.

A few hours later, Sebastian and Undertaker heard the puppy's quiet yipping and whining. Ciel was sound asleep, lulled by the dog's warmth and calm breathing, but the pup was wide awake and ready to be on his way. He was struggling and whining as he tried to escape from Ciel's arms. Sebastian shushed and petted him until he quieted a bit.

Undertaker stood back and watched, a long black fingernail tapping against his cheek. "What are you going to do with him, Sebastian?"

"I'm not sure. To be honest, I was kind of planning on sending him to the pound but for some reason," the doctor glanced at Ciel, "I have a feeling he won't let me do that." Undertaker chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"So you're going to keep him?"

"It depends on if Ciel wants to. It would be his, after all."

Ciel stirred at the sound of his name, and woke up all together when the puppy began whining again. He rubbed his eyes and yawned out, "It's okay, Pluto. Don't cry."

Both Undertaker and Sebastian questioned, "Pluto?"

Ciel looked up at them with a smile, "That right! I came up with it," he paused and tilted his head to the side, "Do you like it?"

Sebastian laughed and said, "Yes, of course! It's perfect."

The boy giggled before scooping up his new puppy and running off to teach him some new tricks. Undertaker grinned and tapped his nails together happily, "Three days into being a father and you're already spoiling him!"

"Think you could resist him?" Sebastian rolled his eyes and smacked his friend's arm.

Undertaker chortled, "No, I probably couldn't. Don't you think you should put up a bit of a fight, though?"

"Nope," the doctor shook his head with a smile, "I plan to spoil him rotten. My father never did anything for me and I absolutely hated him. So, while Ciel will be disciplined, I will also do anything for him." Undertaker paused in his tapping and looked at his friend. He had known about Sebastian's depressing childhood (they had grown up together) but he hadn't expected those experiences to so strongly influence the way he was planning on raising his own child. He then took it up again when he saw Sebastian's determined face and the pleased look in his eyes.

"Fufufufu," Undertaker laughed again and tugged on a strand of Sebastian's hair, "Is that so, my friend? Well, if you are really determined, then I suppose I might be able to lend a hand in that endeavor. He really is just too cute!"

Sebastian grinned and slapped his hand away, "You better believe it!"

Ͽ-Ͼ-London, one week later-Ͽ-Ͼ

"Ciel, it's time to get up. We're here." Sebastian gently shook his son's shoulder and brushed some of his hair out of his face. Undertaker had driven them home and was unloading the few bags Sebastian had brought with him.

"Mmm…ten more minutes…" Ciel pulled Pluto closer, much to the puppy's delight (he had grown fond of Ciel over the past week and loved him more than anyone else), and mumbled sleepily, "Tired…"

Sebastian chuckled and said, "All right, I'll go help Undertaker unload and prep the servants for your arrival." He waited for Ciel to grumble in response and, when he heard it, kissed the boy's forehead before hopping out of the carriage to give Undertaker a hand.

Finny and Baldroy, Sebastian's awful cook, came out to help too. They got everything back in the house in record time. Afterward, Sebastian lined up Finny, Baldroy, and Mey-rin (his maid) and began explaining the situation.

He was just finishing up describing Ciel's disastrous meeting with Lau, when Ciel himself climbed out of the carriage, yawning and clutching Pluto's small, make-shift leash. He started a bit at the sight of so many people he didn't know. Sebastian noticed him first and went over to him. "Hello there, Ciel. Feeling less tired now?"

"Mmhmm…" Ciel leaned onto Sebastian and hid from the servants.

"It's all right, Ciel. Come on, let's say hello, okay?" He gently pushed the boy in front of him and walked him over to the line of servants, "Ciel this is Finny, my gardener, Baldroy, my cook, and Mey-rin, my maid. Tanaka-san is inside preparing a room for you. Everyone, this is Ciel. As of two weeks ago, he is to be considered my son, and I expect you to treat him as such. Is that understood?"

The three jumped to attention and shouted, "YES, SIR!" They terrified Ciel so badly he leapt into the air and ducked behind his father. Undertaker bonked each of them on the head and crossed his arms angrily as Sebastian desperately tried to calm Ciel (and Pluto, who went on the defensive when his master freaked out) down.

"Hush, Ciel. They were just trying to express their enthusiasm. It's all right." The doctor petted and hugged his frightened son as he untangled Pluto's leash from the child's death grip. Pluto growled for a bit but quieted with a whimper when Sebastian gave him a cold glare.

Finny was the first to apologize, "Oh, Young Master, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to scare you," the blonde knelt down and coaxed the boy away from the safety of Sebastian's arms, "Just like Master Sebastian said, we tend to get a little too excited sometimes. Don't worry, we won't hurt you, I promise." He carefully took Ciel's hands and smiled brightly.

Ciel blinked away some of the dampness in his eyes and gave Finny a shy smile in return, "Okay. Thank you, Finny. Um…would it be okay if asked something?"

Finny nodded and grinned, "Go right ahead, Young Master! I hope I can answer your question!"

"Why are you calling me Young Master?" Ciel tilted his head to the side in curiosity (not hearing Sebastian's attempt to keep from laughing).

Finny blinked a couple times and looked back to the others for assistance. They both shrugged and shook their heads unhelpfully. After frowning and much thought, Finny finally came up with an answer, "You are Master Sebastian's son, and so instead of being Master Ciel, which usually applies to adults, you are Young Master. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes. But why do you call Papa, Master?"

"Because that's what servants are supposed to call their employers."

"Why?"

"Uhhh…tradition?"

"Who came up with it?"

"I…I don't know."

"Oh…well, could you just call me Ciel? I don't know if I'd respond to something like, 'Young Master.'" Ciel grinned happily at the dumbfounded gardener.

"Um…is that okay, Master Sebastian?" Finny looked up at the dark-haired man questioningly.

"If Ciel wants you to call him by his first name then you should do so."

Finny laughed cheerfully and said, "All righty then! Ciel it is!" He scooped up the boy and spun him around, "It's nice to meet you Ciel! I'm Finny!"

Ciel giggled and hugged onto Finny's neck, "Nice to meet you too, Finny!"

After Finny broke the ice, the other two servants quickly warmed up to their new little master. While the four chatted and got to know each other, Sebastian walked over to Undertaker and thanked him for helping, "I know I said it before, but thank you for dropping by, Undertaker. I honestly don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there," he bumped his friend's arm and smiled, "Drop by anytime. I'm sure I'll end up needing a whole bunch of help with Ciel."

Undertaker chuckled with glee and said, "All you have to do is call, my friend!" The crazy mortician turned to leave, but called over his shoulder, "Oh, and don't forget to swing by my shop with Ciel! I'm sure he would enjoy it!" Sebastian tried to look enthusiastic but Undertaker only laughed harder, "I was kidding! Don't you dare bring him to my shop! He'll have nightmares for weeks." They both laughed at that before waving good-bye as Undertaker walked down the driveway to get back to town.

After watching his friend disappear amongst the trees surrounding his mansion, Sebastian whirled around and clapped his hands together, "All right! So, how have you four been faring without me?"

Tanaka-san, who had just finished making up Ciel's room and was walking over to the grouped servants plus one, answered, "Quite well, Master Sebastian. The only problem we had was when Baldroy almost burned down the kitchen while trying to make something called omurice."

Sebastian face-palmed and sighed heavily, "I hope it wasn't too difficult to clean up."

"Oh, no, Sir. In fact, I didn't have any trouble."

"Hm?"

"I made Baldroy clean up every little bit of his mess." Tanaka-san crossed his arms and chuckled happily.

Sebastian laughed and clapped his butler on the back, "Good job, Tanaka-san! Good job!"

They talked for a bit longer before herding the still chattering youngsters back into the house.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

I think that's enough for today. Thank you for reading thus far, and I hope you continue to follow my family's story until the end. It is truly an honor to share it with you.

Sincerely,  
Ciel P. Michalis

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 **Please review! :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys...I'M SO SORRY! D'X**

 **I actually wrote this chapter a little while ago, but never got around to posting it. Ugh...it's kinda short too.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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"Hit him again." A dark haired man named Claude Faustus leaned his head against his hand and watched as his second favorite slave was beaten in front of him. Alois grunted in pain but refused to cry or beg for mercy. He knew that Claude liked him and Ciel, but he also knew that Claude was ruthless and cruel. Hence, the blonde suspected that he wouldn't be going back to the safety of his cell anytime soon.

Claude raised a hand and the black cloaked assailant froze, standing back to let his master speak. Claude stood from his red velvet throne and walked over to the bloody child, "So, Alois, are you ready to tell me where your little brother is? I am very worried about him. Surely you must know that I would treat him better than some random stranger…" When he didn't get a response, he grasped Alois by the hair and yanked him to his feet, "Tell me. Now."

Alois coughed up some blood and looked calmly at the man, "I'm sorry, ma-"

 _THWACK_

Claude slapped the blonde hard across the cheek, "I told you not to call me that, Alois. Do you remember what I wanted you to call me?"

"Y-your Highness."

"Very good. Now, continue."

"I'm sorry…Your Highness. I don't know where Ciel is." Alois took in a shuddering breath and exhaled slowly, "And besides, even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. You were the one who destroyed his eye simply to see how he would react. I would rather have sold him to that circus troupe that came by a couple months ago than bring him back he-"

Claude's expression turned dark as he slammed his fist into Alois's chest. The boy went flying backward and landed with a painful sounding _THUD_ against the cobblestone wall behind him. He lay there, gasping for breath and moaning, as Claude walked toward him and snarled, "Your petty opinion does not count! I am your master and you are nothing but a worthless slave! _My_ worthless slave! If I want you to tell me something, you had better DO AS I SAY!" He snarled and kicked the boy in his chest.

Over and over he kicked Alois, until, finally, the blonde threw up a mix of blood and stomach acid (he hadn't been fed for the past multiple days, so there wasn't any food coming up). Claude nimbly avoided the vomit as he grimaced in disgust and rage.

"Revolting," he scoffed and stalked away, "Absolutely revolting. I had no idea it was possible for such an adorable child to be so revolting…Hannah!"

A purple haired woman dashed into the room they were in and bowed deeply, "Yes, sir?"

"Get the filth off this nauseating brat and send him to my study. I still want to speak with him." Claude walked down the dungeon's hallway and stomped up the cold stairs. He was very irritated and wanted to take a bath. He also wanted to burn the clothes he was wearing. Despite his efforts to avoid it, the little brat's puke had still gotten on his shoes and pant leg. _Disgusting…_

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

Hannah waited until the terrifying man was gone before rushing to the blonde's side. She gently lifted his head onto her lap and stroked his hair lovingly, "Alois…don't worry. I'm here, sweetheart. I'm right here." She kissed his forehead, slowly gathered him into her arms, and stood, glancing at the man who had been beating Alois. "Why are you still here, Timber? Go back to your brothers. Right now." Timber nodded hastily and threw off his cloak. He hated being away from Thompson and Canterbury for any amount of time so he was anxious to get back to them. He dashed up the stairs and ran to where they had been waiting patiently for him. Their reunion was short, sweet, and very, very relieved.

Hannah, on the other hand, could only imagine how terribly sad Ciel would have been if he saw his brother right now. She sighed softly and carried Alois to the cell where the slaves' bathing things lay. She gently cleaned the boy free of dirt, blood, vomit, and anything else that might have gotten on him during the past couple days. Alois didn't fight or struggle as the frigid water washed over him. He didn't flinch when Hannah accidentally bumped one of his bruises. All he did was close his eyes and imagine being with his little brother again. He missed Ciel. He missed him a lot. But there wasn't anything for him to do, at least not until Sebastian came back. Alois knew it might take years for the dark-haired man to find Claude's hideout, but Alois believed in him. He knew he would see Ciel again and, even if it took a while, they would be reunited.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

After Alois had been scrubbed, bandaged, and dressed in new clothes, Hannah brought him upstairs and told him to wait while she went to tell Claude that the boy was ready. While he waited, the triplets happened to walk by. Alois waved at them and Timber rushed over, "Alois! Are you okay? I'm really sorry about hitting you like that. I ho-"

"It's all right, Timber," the blonde cut off his friend with a laugh and a smile, "You didn't have any choice. I would have done the same if Ciel were here and I needed to beat you up to protect him. That's how family works. No hard feelings, okay?"

Timber nodded with tears in his eyes, "Okay. Thanks, Alois," he turned to go back to his brothers but stopped as a thought occurred to him, "Oh, I almost forgot. Alois…"

"Yeah?"

Timber motioned for Thompson and Canterbury. The two trotted over and all three of them began whispering quietly to Alois, "His Highness is going to ask you about how you got out. Make sure to avoid mentioning anything having to do with that man you told us about. If he knows what he looks like he can probably track him down and find Ciel without your help. Also, if he asks about who let you out the door, say Mr. Macalister did it. He was on duty that night and it'll be easier for you to get away with the lie if you say he did it. And don't worry, we'll back you up no matter what. Good luck, Alois." They hugged their young friend and dashed off when they heard Hannah coming back with Claude in tow.

Alois stood up straighter and quickly processed all that they had said. He agreed that Macalister was the best person to frame (Hannah was the one who had actually let them out but there was no way he was going to give that up). Macalister was a dirty creep who loved to tease and terrify any and all who had the misfortune of running into him. He usually just wandered about Claude's mansion (he's technically Claude's uncle, but worked as a lackey most of the time) and the nights that he's on watch, he, infallibly, gets drunk and falls asleep. Granted Claude doesn't know, but there really isn't any reason to tell him about that, now is there?

Anyway, as I was saying, while Alois was running through his cover story, Claude stopped in front of him and said calmly, "Now then, Alois, why don't you come with me." The blonde nodded obediently and followed his master to the study, where Claude sat down at his desk, motioned for Alois to sit on the floor, and picked up a small pillow, that he rested on his knees (I usually sat on his lap, but since I wasn't there, he had to make due with a pillow…ugh…). After making himself comfortable, he began grilling Alois on everything he knew.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

A long four hours later, Alois exited the study, haggard, frustrated, and very, very hungry. Claude had kept asking him the same thing over and over and over, until the blonde's head began to spin. Finally, Alois simply refused to talk at all, mostly out of fear that he might say something that could get himself, or a friend, in trouble. He got kicked around a bit, but Claude quickly tired of trying to deal with such a stubborn child. Instead, he began talking with (or rather, to) Alois about what he would do to the person who had taken Ciel away. The blonde shuddered to think of the horrors that awaited Sebastian if he happened to be caught.

Shaking off his vivid imagination, Alois stumbled into the kitchen and attempted to bum a little something to eat off cook. The cook, a jovial man by the name of Patterson, laughed at the child's creative ways of thinking and gave in.

Alois skipped happily to the garden and ate his reward out of sight from any filchers that might have been snooping. When he was done, Alois quickly walked back to his cell and waited outside it for Hannah or one of the triplets to come and open it for him.

As he waited, he thought about Ciel and how he might be faring at the moment. _I hope giving him to Sebastian was the right decision. He seemed like a nice man, but how could I actually tell? Oh dear, I hope he's okay…please be all right Ciel. Please be all right…_

Ͽ-Ͼ-Back in London-Late Afternoon-Ͽ-Ͼ

At that same moment, Ciel happened to be thinking something along similar lines, _Acchan…poor Acchan. He must have gotten in lots of trouble when Master found out he helped me escape. I hope he's okay…poor Acchan._ Ciel sat on a large comfortable bed stationed at the end of an elegant, yet simplistic, room.

After all that had happened in the past couple weeks, Sebastian had decided that Ciel deserved a little time to himself. He told Ciel that if he needed anything, all he had to do was pull on this funny looking rope and Tanaka-san would come by to attend to him.

At that moment, Ciel was contemplating whether or not he should pull the rope and ask Tanaka if he could explore the mansion or simply go exploring on his own. It took him just about a minute to come to a decision.

He would explore on his own.

The blue-haired child whistled for Pluto (who had been laying on the bed next to me), picked up the candelabra Sebastian had left with him, and silently crept over to the door. He looked up and down the halls, making sure the coast was clear, and tiptoed out into the dusk lit corridors.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

The first few rooms he went into weren't very interesting. At least not to a child of his age. One of them was a study (filled with boring looking books and a slew of loose documents and papers) and the other two were delicate sitting rooms that Ciel wouldn't have gone into on a bet (they were, and still are, mind you, absolutely pristine and I had no qualms about getting out of them as fast as I possibly could). As for the next room he went into…well, I think I'll save that for next time.

Your cruel friend,

Ciel P. Michaelis

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 **I love doing cliffhangers. XD**

 **To guest reviewer Guest: Thanks for being the first to review and I hope you enjoyed the update!**

 **To guest reviewer James Birdsong: Aww! Thanks! XD**

 **To guest reviewer Yuki: I'm glad that you like my story, but I'm afraid I won't be doing any pairings in this fic. As for what's going to happen to Alois...well...kukuku...let's just say that I have a lot in store for him! ;D**

 **To strawberrycut9: Yaay! I'm glad you like it!**

 **To guest reviewer IvoryPhantomhive: First of all, love your name! And second, here ya go! Hope you enjoyed! K** **am sa hae yo! (I hope I have the right version!) :)**

 **Later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! It's been a long time since I've updated any of my stories but today is kind of special so I'll be updating all of them (well** _ **most**_ **is a more accurate word to use) at once! XD**

 **Please enjoy chapter 4: Crimson**

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The next room Ciel explored was filled to the brim with red. Red walls, red dressers, red sheets, red blankets, red wood furniture, red décor, red rugs. Everything in sight was red. Or black. But mostly red.

Ciel stepped into the room and gazed around at the striking color. He walked over to the large armoire and peered at the top of it. There were lots and lots of pins, pieces of fabric, and thread scattered across the top of it. When Ciel picked one of the swatches up, he heard a shrill voice shout, "PUT THAT DOWN YOU LITTLE STREET RAT!" He was then promptly assaulted by a tall red haired man wearing a long red coat over a white long-sleeve button up shirt, black pants, a black vest, and a red and white striped ribbon loosely wrapped around his neck. He also sported red glasses with little skull faces hanging from the glasses chain he wore around his neck.

The man was still hissing and growling angry words at Ciel as he hoisted the child up in the air and shook him like a rag doll. Ciel shrieked, "PAPA, HELP!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the red head was knocked to the floor and Ciel was scooped into Sebastian's firm, but safe and gentle, grasp. The doctor had been walking to Ciel's room to see how he was doing when he heard Ciel's cry. He dashed into the red room and saw the red-head throttling his son.

Sebastian's line of sight focused on the tall man. He took three quick steps forward, snatched Ciel from his captor, kicked the red-head's legs out from under him and snarled, "What the #*& are you doing Grell?!"

The red-head lifted himself up off the floor, dusted his coat off, and huffed his next words, "The little brat was touching my stuff! What's he even doing here? Is he one of your patients? I'm surprised. You don't usually do tha-"

"He isn't a patient," Sebastian hugged Ciel close and glared at Grell, "When I was in Pickering I adopted this child as my son."

Grell blinked. "What?"

"I adopted him. He's my son. And I do not appreciate you being rude to him."

"You adopted a kid," the red-head looked incredulously at the duo, "You adopted…a kid…why?"

"It's a long story. One I would like to tell you later." Sebastian gave Grell another chilling glare, before turning to look at Ciel. He gave the trembling child a gentle kiss on the forehead and whispered to him, "It's all right little one. This is Grell Sutcliff. He's in the fashion industry and lives here with me until he becomes famous enough to afford a place of his own. Do you know what someone like that is called?

"A freeloader?"

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU LITTLE-"

"Grell!" Sebastian choked back a laugh and corrected Ciel, "No, child. He pays me rent, so he's called a 'boarder.'"

Ciel raised an eyebrow and quipped, "Borderline insane, you mean."

"THAT'S IT BRAT!" Grell yowled angrily at Ciel and lunged for him. Only to be met with the bottom of Sebastian's foot as he kicked the red-head in the face.

"Quite right, Ciel," Sebastian chuckled quietly, "Grell is rather insane. But did you get my point?"

"About him being called a boarder because he pays rent to live in your house?"

"Yes."

"Then I got it." Ciel glanced at the grounded Grell (I felt a little more confident knowing that the red-head couldn't hurt me while I was with Papa), "He's an idiot, isn't he?"

Sebastian laughed and replied, "Child, you haven't seen anything yet!"

"Well, well…you two really are father and son." Grell, once again, popped up and began huffing and puffing at Ciel and Sebastian, "First one of you messes with my stuff. Then the other one knocks me down. Right after that, I'm insulted by a brat I've never met before. Then you," he jabbed a long finger at Sebastian, "kick me in the face. And after that, you," he moves his finger so its pointing in Ciel's direction, "insult me again!" Grell whined loudly and flailed his arms above his head, "What do you two have against me?!"

Sebastian chuckled, saying, "Neither of us have anything against you Grell. All though you really shouldn't have tried to hurt Ciel," he stopped smiling and raised an eyebrow, "That was most definitely a bad idea."

Grell shuddered and said, "I'm sorry, Sebby!"

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Sebastian intoned as he walked out of the red room.

"But it's a cute nickname!" The red-head regained his usual cheeriness and leapt to his feet, following Sebastian into the corridor.

"No actually, it isn't."

"It _is_ a rather cute nickname, Papa," Ciel leaned against Sebastian and let out a quiet breath. He was feeling tired again but didn't want to be left out of the conversation, "But not for Papa. For a child like me, maybe…but not," he yawned, "for…Papa…" With that Ciel drifted into sleep.

* * *

 **Okay guys…I'm afraid this story isn't exactly going where I originally planned. This was supposed to be a short story in which Ciel was given to Sebastian, raised by him for a bit before getting a tip from Undertaker as to Alois's whereabouts. Sebby was then going to swoop in, save the day and they'd all live happily ever after. At this rate, this is going to become a story about Ciel and Sebastian bonding rather than actual plot.**

 **So…I'm going to stop this chapter here and skip ahead about six years or so and pick up there. I'll continue to write separate oneshots about our sweet father/son duo if anyone wants me to (guest reviewers Koko and Hannah, don't worry I haven't forgotten about the sick Ciel requests; they're first on my list). Just leave a review detailing what you want to see and I'll see what I can do.**

 **Thanks to everyone who's been following this up till now and I hope you enjoy the journey to the real end of this story!**

 **Love ya'll!**


	5. Chapter 5

**All righty! Here's the second to last (possibly third to last) chapter of _Papa, Acchan, and Me_. I hope you guys have enjoyed this story and I promise I'll start working on those bonding moments between Sebastian and Ciel soon! XD**

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Ͽ-Ͼ-Six Years Later-Ͽ-Ͼ

"Dad! Grell's trying to drown us in fabric again!" Ciel leaned his head back and shouted for his father. The red-head had draped his various odd looking creations all around the hallways and was sitting in the midst of them, plucking and prodding at different seams and stiches

"Oh, shut up, kid. I'm preparing for tonight's show and there isn't enough space in my room," Grell blew a strand of hair out of his face and glared at the boy, "If you want to get somewhere just walk. BUT," he leapt to his feet and shouted, hands on his hips, "Do NOT step on ANYTHING!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ciel scoffed and attempted to get through the piles, "Daad? Where are you?" He tripped over himself when he noticed that he was getting a little too close to one of Grell's costumes. Thankfully, Sebastian, who was just coming out of his office, caught the boy at the last minute.

"I'm right here Ciel," the doctor set his son back on his feet and chuckled, "Honestly, Grell! Must you take up quite so much surface area?"

As he was rebuking the red-head, Undertaker burst into the room, shouting, "Sebastian! I need to talk to you, ASAP!"

"What's wrong, Uncle Undertaker?" Ciel leaned against his father and blinked at the mortician.

Sebastian took one look at his friend's panicked expression and ushered him into the office he had just exited.

The two men talked for a long time in hushed, yet urgent voices. Ciel would have asked what was happening, but Grell put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Not right now, Ciel. Sebastian will tell you when you need to know, okay?" The boy nodded, allowing Grell to lead him into the kitchen where Bard was attempting to recreate something he'd seen at the bakery. It was going hilariously wrong, but Ciel just couldn't manage to get his mind off Undertaker's excited expression.

Finally, Sebastian and Undertaker came out of the study. Ciel heard the door open and dashed to go investigate. He entered the hall just as Undertaker said, "I'm sure Lau would be happy to provide assistance."

Sebastian grunted in reply, saying, "I have no doubt that he will, the only problem is if he'll be of any help…"

"What's Lau gonna do?" Ciel crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow (the one not covered by my then-usual eyepatch).

His father glanced at him and gave a small smile, "I'll tell you later, son. Go back into the kitchen."

"Okay…"

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

Two hours later Sebastian slowly walked into the kitchen after leading Undertaker to the door. He gently took hold of Ciel's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry for the wait everyone. Bard, if you are finished experimenting, please get Tanaka-san to have him assist you in making dinner. Ciel, come with me."

The blue-haired boy, wide-eyed and silent, followed his father into the doctor's office. Sebastian released his grip on Ciel's shoulder and walked around to the back of his desk, falling heavily into his comfortable swivel chair. He ran a hand through his hair and motioned for Ciel to come to him.

Ciel hesitated a bit before slowly making his way over to his father. "What's wrong, Papa?" He only ever referred to Sebastian in such a childish way when he was very frightened or incredibly sick, so the doctor knew he had better cut to the chase.

"Nothing is wrong, little one. In fact, what I have to tell you is rather good news…" he pulled the boy closer and wrapped his arms around Ciel's small body, "Ciel, you remember Alois, right? Your brother?" When Ciel nodded he went on, "Well…Undertaker discovered where he is being held. Remember how we were talking about Lau? Undertaker is asking him if he is willing to help me," Sebastian paused and smiled at his precious little boy, "You're going to get your brother back, Ciel. How do you feel about that?" He ran a gentle hand through Ciel's hair and waited for a response.

The boy blinked in astonishment and his knees buckled underneath him forcing Sebastian to catch him before he hit the ground. Ciel took a shaky breath as he clutched at his father. "H-he's still alive?"

"That's right," Sebastian pulled him onto his lap, just like he used to when Ciel was younger, and slowly stroked his hair, "I'll be bringing him home too."

"Wh-where is he?"

"Germany. After you escaped, your captor, whose name Undertaker found to be Claude Faustus, decided to take the easy road out and run off. Undertaker only located him because of one small mistake."

"What was it?"

Sebastian chuckled with amusement, "Apparently, Mr. Faustus has a rather adorable hobby. He likes to crochet doilies."

Ciel frowned in confusion and said, "He likes to…what?"

"Crochet doilies. They're small useless coasters for the backs of chairs," Sebastian waved a hand dismissively, "Anyway, he always has to have the a very expensive kind of thread. It's actually made from spider silk and he refuses to use anything else. Undertaker was able to pinpoint his location by noting that the sales of this unusual product spiked whenever a certain man, named Jeremy Rathbone, was in town. Undertaker looked into this Mr. Rathbone and discovered that he didn't actually exist. The real person behind Rathbone was Mr. Faustus and since Undertaker had found out that Rathbone was in Germany, he came straight here to tell me."

"I see…" Ciel let out a slow calming breath and buried his face into his father's chest, "So…you're really going to bring Acchan back?"

"That's right, little one," Sebastian smiled as he rubbed his cheek against the boy's soft hair.

"When are you leaving?"

"Just as soon as Undertaker comes back, hopefully with Lau in tow-" he was interrupted by the rapid and repeated ringing of his doorbell, followed by Grell's shrill complaints. Ciel leapt to his feet and ran to let his uncle in.

Undertaker was giggling nervously when Ciel unlatched and flung open the door. Lau smiled at Ciel and said, " _I take it from your excited expression your father has told you the good news then, hm?_ "

Ciel nodded vigorously, "Yeah, he said that he'd head out as soon as Uncle Undertaker got back, hopefully with you! Are you going to help him? Please, Lau! Please help Dad bring Acchan back!"

" _Don't worry, child,_ " Lau hummed and lifted Ciel up into his arms easily, " _I would have helped Sebastian even if you hadn't begged me to, but now I can guarantee that whoever it is that has made you so upset will never see the light of day again. Do not fret, young one, everything will be fine…_ " The Chinese dealer's eyes opened slightly as he hugged Ciel gently. He was smiling dangerously and, if Ciel hadn't hated Claude with every fiber of his being, he would have pitied the man who was about become chopped liver.

The boy laughed and snuggled into Lau's hold. It had taken him a while to get used to the lazy opium dealer, but when he did they were practically inseparable, much to Grell's chagrin (they were constantly ganging up on him and pulling nasty pranks). Ciel wrapped his arms around Lau's neck and yipped, "Thank you, Lau! Thank you!"

Lau hugged him back before slowly setting him back on his feet, just as Sebastian walked out of his office. He grinned thankfully at his friend and said, "So, am I right in thinking that you will be prepared to lend me your assistance?"

" _Of course, Sebastian,_ " Lau smoothed down Ciel's hair with a soft hand, " _How could I possibly resist helping the father of such an adorable child, hm?_ "

Sebastian chuckled before thanking him, "I am truly grateful, Lau," he walked up to the trio, placing a hand on Ciel's shoulder and nodding a greeting to Undertaker when he got close enough to do so.

Undertaker nodded back before saying, " _Gufufufu!_ Come, come you two. If you want to get to Germany any time soon, you should leave," the mortician/informant pulled out a small envelope and passed it to Sebastian, "I took the liberty of booking two train tickets to Berlin, I'll take care of Ciel and the house while you're gone, Sebastian, so you don't need to worry about anything but getting Alois back, all right?"

The doctor smiled as he took the envelope from his friend, "Thank you, Undertaker. I leave the house, and my son, in your hands. Lau, are you ready to leave?" Lau nodded with a snake-like grin so Sebastian allowed Tanaka-san to help him put his coat on and took the bag offered to him before walking out the door and over to the carriage ready to take them to the station.

Right before Sebastian clambered on board, Ciel yanked away from Undertaker and ran down to say one last goodbye to his father. Sebastian chuckled as he lifted his son high in the air and said, after pulling him into a tight hug, "I'll be back soon, little one. I love you."

Ciel buried his face into Sebastian's chest and murmured, "I love you too, Dad. Be careful," he pulled away and looked his father directly in the eye, "Mas…er…Mr. Faustus is a very dangerous person. Everyone who works for him is terrified of him but their fear is what makes them so loyal," he paused for a bit and sighed, shoulders sagging tiredly, "I don't know if anything has changed since Acchan got me out, but from what I remember, me and Acchan didn't have any allies aside from Hannah and the triplets. Hannah has long light-purple hair, dark skin, and bright blue eyes. The triplets' names are Thompson, Timber, and Canterbury. They all look alike and have dark-purple hair, red eyes, and, from what I remember, they always wore matching outfits. If you tell any of them that you're my dad, they should be willing to help you…I hope…"

Sebastian smiled and pulled him into a firm hug, "Thank you, Ciel. I'll remember that. See you in a week or so," he pressed a kiss to his son's head before pulling away and climbing into the carriage.

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

When Sebastian and Lau arrived in Berlin, Germany, they immediately got in one of the many carriages waiting to taxi them wherever travelers needed, or wanted, to go. Sebastian said to the driver they were riding with, "Take us to Chorin on the double. If you get us there in under two hours, we'll pay extra."

The driver's eyes gleamed with noticeable greed as he replied, "Un'erst'd, mizzer. I'll getcha der in h'or an' ha' flat. Jes ya set' yo'sef down an' leave ev'rthin' ta ol' Jasper." The wizened old man cackled and resumed readying the horses. Sebastian patted him on the back and went to get in the carriage with Lau.

True to his word, old Jasper got the two to Chorin in an hour and a half and was rewarded richly for his troubles. Once the man and his carriage disappeared around the corner, Lau and Sebastian began asking around for 'Jeremy Rathbone.' After a few dead ends, they came across a girl who used to work there and was willing to tell them where Rathbone lived, for a price.

Sebastian ended up dishing out two pounds* for the information, but it was well worth it because the girl told them the layout of the place as well as where it was located. The two men were very grateful to her and thanked her profoundly for her thoroughness.

They decided to lay low until night time, it would be easier to break in under the cover of darkness, so Lau found a tavern that would let them rest in the back room until they needed to leave. They spent most of their time napping in preparation of the long night ahead of them and quietly talking over a plan of action.

When it finally got dark enough for their operation to be completely undercover, the two men got ready to 'storm the demon king's castle and take back the princess.' That's how Lau likes to say it at least. In reality their plan was more along the lines of sneak into Claude's mansion, find Alois, and get out. Then, after Alois and Ciel had been reunited, Sebastian would begin the process of dismantling Claude's success from the inside out.

Before any of this though, they needed to actually get _into_ Claude's mansion.

After hitching a ride on a wagon headed home, they walked the rest of the way to Claude's gate. Once there, they clambered up and over it before dashing through the garden. They only ran into one guard, thankfully, and Lau was able to easily knock him out. After making their way past the garden they came across a back door, presumably leading to the kitchen. Sebastian slowly turned the knob, hoping it was unlocked, but it didn't move.

This is where Lau came in. Because of his work as a trader (read: smuggler), he was used to picking locks and getting past security. When Sebastian shrugged and removed his hand from the door knob, Lau stepped up to it and went to work, humming happily as he did so.

Ten seconds later, the latch clicked open and Lau swung open the door, bowing as he let Sebastian enter first. The dark-haired doctor chuckled as he waltzed in (swatting playfully at Lau as he went). Once both Lau and Sebastian had entered the kitchen, they shut the door behind themselves. Not two seconds later, the cook, Patterson, shoved open one of the swinging kitchen doors, wanting to grab a quick drink of whisky before heading to bed. He didn't notice Sebastian and Lau at first, and he probably wouldn't have at all considering it was rather dark (even with his candle) and the alcohol cabinet was positioned facing the back door so Patterson would have to turn away from them to get to it. Sebastian didn't know this, however, so he leapt forward and hit the cook at the base of his neck, stunning him and making him pass out, but not causing any permanent damage (such as death…).

Lau gave the doctor an approving look and hummed, " _Impressive, Sebastian~! I had no idea you even knew how to fight._ "

Sebastian laughed darkly and said, "I was in the army for a few years before getting my medical license. They taught me how to fight and shoot a gun, but not much else," he grinned at his friend as he dragged the unconscious cook over to an unlocked closet. Lau snickered for a few seconds before joining the other man next to the doors leading to the dining room. Sebastian slowly peeked through the swinging doors to see if the coast was clear.

No one was in sight, so Sebastian motioned for Lau to follow him. The former servant girl had told them there was a secret door leading to the basement hidden in the left wing guest room. Both men had automatically assumed when she mentioned the basement that it would have to be the first place they look.

They quietly made their way through the mansion's lounge and dining room. Then they crept into the entrance hall and stole up the stairs. At the top, they were met with a long dark hallway that had two large guest rooms on either side of it and a master bedroom at the very end.

The servant girl hadn't specified which guest room the secret passage was in so the two men split up and began checking each room individually. Lau took the left one while Sebastian took the one on the right. Lau happened to get the room with the passage, so he quickly sprinted to get Sebastian and they went down into the basement together.

Sebastian shivered as the frigid air of the cellar seeped through his clothes. The two men stared in horror at the mold and moss growing on the walls and picked up their pace, even more determined to get Alois out of this hell-hole as soon as possible.

After multiple minutes of constant walking down stairs, the two reached the last few steps. They looked around at the varying sizes of barred cells lining nearly all of the walls and began searching them for the young blonde boy.

Lau had no idea as to what Alois looked like so he simply followed Sebastian as he walked past the cells looking for the boy Ciel had wished for years to meet once again. Finally, they came across a rather small cell with a bony young man curled up in the corner. He was wrapped up in a thin, torn blanket, but Sebastian could see a tuft of platinum blonde hair peeking out from underneath it. Sebastian's heart nearly stopped in his chest.

After six years, he was finally going to be able to fulfill the most important promise he had ever made. He swallowed nervously before rasping out a hoarse, "Alois. Alois, can you hear me?"

The blonde shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake up completely, so Sebastian tried again, a little louder this time, "Alois! Alois, it's me, Sebastian Michalis! Wake up!"

This time Alois grumbled sleepily and pushed himself up on his forearms. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, "Wha's'a'matter? Hannah? S'at you?"

"No, Alois," Sebastian reached a hand through the bars of the boy's cage and stroked his cheek gently, "It's me, Sebastian. You entrusted Ciel to me six years ago. Do you remember that?"

"Ciel?! What about Ciel?!" Alois was fully awake now and pressing his face to the bars. He was still very sleepy so only Sebastian's mention of his most precious person registered in the tired blonde's mind. Claude had gotten harsher and harsher over the years and today he had gotten one of the worst beatings of his life. He ached from head to toe and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the rest of eternity.

"Hush! I'm here to get you out of here and bring you to Ciel."

The veil of sleep finally lifted from Alois's mind as he recognized the man in front of him, "M-Mr. Sebastian? H-how?"

"It doesn't matter right now. I'll explain everything after getting you out of here, okay?" Sebastian cupped the boy's face between his hands, eyebrows knitting together slightly as he felt the boy's cheek bones beneath his fingers. "Do you know where the key to your cage is?"

Alois closed his eyes and breathed a few slow, calming breaths before replying, "It's not locked. Mas-…er…Claude keeps us chained with fear, not physical bindings."

After hearing that, Sebastian quickly stood and flung open the cell door. He stepped in and scooped up Alois, bridal style. The blonde flinched with a quiet whimper making Sebastian glance down at him in concern, "What's wrong, Alois? Did I hurt you?"

"N-no. Claude…ugh…" he gripped a fistful of Sebastian's shirt and moaned as a wave of pain rolled over him. When it passed he went on, panting slightly, "H-he had a bad day at work or something…took it out on me…it hurts…" Alois trailed off weakly and buried his face in the doctor's shoulder.

Sebastian gripped the boy closer and murmured comfortingly, "Don't worry, Alois. Everything will be all right. You're going to be okay, just hang in there. I'll take a look at you as soon as I get you out of here. Don't worry…"

After calming Alois down a little, he motioned to Lau with his head and the two of them made their way back up the stairs, back through the guest room, down the entrance stairs, back through the lounge and kitchen, and out the back door into the garden. They ran to the gate and Lau leapt to the top. Sebastian carefully lifted Alois up to the Chinese man and pulled himself up and over, landing on the other side. He then held out his arms for the boy again and after Lau had handed him down, he leapt down himself. They ran quickly through the woods until they reached the road leading to town. Since both men were very fit, they decided to run back to town as well (or at least run until a wagon or carriage came up behind them heading the same way).

It took them about forty-five minutes to run seven miles with hardly any breaks. By the time they reached the inn they had been staying at they were decidedly winded, but got their breath back after a short rest.

Both Lau and Sebastian agreed that it would be a good idea to get out of town as soon as possible in order to not get caught by Claude when he woke up and found Alois missing.

Following this plan of action, they called for a carriage to take them to the station. As it turned out, their driver was the same old Jasper that had brought them there in the first place. Apparently the beer in Chorin was his favorite so he had been out drinking away the extra money he had earned from getting the two men to Chorin quickly. He had luckily slept off the majority of his drunkenness and was perfectly willing to take the men, and their new acquaintance, back to the station in Berlin.

On the way, Sebastian checked Alois's body for wounds. He only found scars and bruises thankfully, and there wasn't any sign that the boy had internal bleeding or anything of the sort so the doctor began giving the young man a thorough explanation of all that had happened in the six years he missed.

They reached the station at a little before five in the morning and were able to get tickets for the first train, which left at 6:15 AM on the dot. As Sebastian, Lau, and Alois sat waiting for the train to come, they chatted about random things, though nearly every topic they started upon wound up (one way or another) back at Ciel. All three loved the beautiful little blue-haired kid so they were all highly entertained with this talk until the train finally arrived.

During the multi-hour train ride back to London, Alois curled up next to Sebastian and slept for a great deal of time, only waking up to eat and use the restroom. Sebastian and Lau spent the trip quietly talking, so as not to wake Alois, and resting.

After the thirteen-hour train ride made its final stop at the London station, Sebastian woke Alois and Lau (who had just fallen asleep not ten minutes ago…he was quite grumpy about that), and the three of them got off the train. Sebastian went to the ticket booth to call home and let Undertaker know he was back and on his way home.

When he had relayed his message to the informant, he returned to Lau and Alois and they began flagging down a carriage. Two carriages actually, because Lau said that, as much as he would like to see Ciel and Alois be reunited, he was exhausted and wanted to get some sleep. Sebastian understood, so he let his friend get on the first carriage and paid for his transportation up front, saying, "Consider it a token of my thanks, okay?"

Not being one to reject a free ride, Lau replied with, " _Hm~? A token, you say? Oh well, if you insist~! Thanks, Sebastian!_ "

Sebastian chuckled and said, "No, Lau. I should be thanking you." Both men grinned at each other and shook hands before Lau got in the carriage and rode off back to his opium den.

After seeing Lau off, Sebastian and Alois began searching for another available carriage to take them home. Eventually they found one that had just dropped of its previous customer. Sebastian helped Alois climb in before telling the driver they wanted to make one stop at a certain tailor shop on the way. He gave the driver the address and got in.

Silence filled the carriage as Alois stared out at the city in awe. He had never seen so many buildings. And people. There were so many people, he almost didn't know what to do. After a few moments had passed, in which Sebastian watched the blonde boy with an amused smile of his face, the doctor cleared his throat and said, "Before I take you to see Ciel, I'm going to take you to a tailor so you can get some new clothes. She's very fast, loves kids, and won't ask unnecessary questions if you don't want her to."

The sound of the older man's voice shook Alois out of his reverie, so he sat up straight and nodded, saying, "Okay, thank you, Mr. Sebastian."

His formality made Sebastian laugh and say, "Just call me Sebastian, Alois."

The blonde nodded vigorously and grinned at him, "If you say so!"

They spent the rest of the ride to the tailor's shop once again chatting about Ciel and how he had grown. Once there, Sebastian lifted Alois out of the carriage and told the driver to wait until they came out. When inside the shop, the first thing Alois heard was a loud screech followed by the sound of large objects falling to the floor.

After hearing the scream, a busty brown-haired woman came barreling into the front room, scaring Alois out of his wits. The blonde shrieked and hid behind Sebastian. The woman laughed heartily and jumped around behind the doctor as well, cooing, "Well aren't you the shy one, sweetie? Ya don't have to be scared of me kiddo, as much as I think this stiff," she slapped Sebastian on the shoulder, "Is…well… a stiff, I love kids! Anyway, Sebastian! You didn't tell me you had another boy! I thought Ciel was your only son."

Sebastian sighed heavily and gently pulled Alois out from behind him, "This is Ciel's elder brother Alois. Neither of them are my sons by blood, but I adopted Ciel six years ago and I hope to be able to adopt Alois as well, if he doesn't mind, that is," He glanced down at the wide-eyed blonde and ran a hand through his hair, "Well, Alois? Do you want to become a part of the Michalis family?"

Tears welled up in the blonde's bright blue eyes as he nodded excitedly and gave Sebastian a huge bear hug. Sebastian laughed and hugged him back (though not quite so hard, considering the blonde felt like he might break at any second). Alois took in a shuddering breath and said, in a voice muffled by Sebastian's shirt, "Yes. Thank you so much, Sebastian. Thank you, thank you…"

The doctor smiled, saying, "It's my pleasure, Alois. Welcome to my slightly dysfunctional family," he ran his hand through the platinum locks and pressed a kiss to his new son's head.

* * *

 ***Two pounds in the Victorian age is the equivalent of about 175 American dollars today.**

 **I decided to post this chapter a littler earlier because of a couple different reviews posted to _Silver and Gold_ by guest reviewers, so if you guys are reading this, I officially dedicate this chapter to you! Thanks for always being so enthusiastic about my story and I hope you liked this update! :D**

 **Love ya'll! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya!**

 **Ummmmmm...soooo...IAPOLOGIZEPROFOUNDLYFORMYABSENCE!**

 **I have literally no excuse aside from laziness and writer's block.**

 **I'm afraid this is the last chapter of this main story. I'll be writing some side-one-shots based on the reviews I've gotten wanting a sick!Ciel fic, but as for the story thus far it is complete. No more plot about the family getting back together...**

 **However.**

 **I'm planning on deepening the background between Ciel, Alois, and Claude. I have an idea, but it's no where near formed enough to say anything about. I'll try to work it into the sick fic, but I might just do it as a stand alone.**

 **Enough of my yammering, then! Onto what-should-technically-be-called the final chapter of** ** _Papa, Acchan, and Me_** **: Family Again**

* * *

Nina felt like a third wheel. A big fat (don't tell her I used that word, she'd kill me) third wheel. She could practically see the hearts and sparkly bubbles floating around the newly established father and son duo, still hugging each other sweetly.

After a few more minutes of the sappy scene, Nina growled to herself and yipped, "Come on you two! Don't make me just stand here like a spectator!" She pounded childishly on Sebastian's back, "You know how much I hate being ignored Sebastian!"

The doctor scoffed and rolled his eyes before replying, "Yes, yes, Nina," he turned toward her, an arm still draped around Alois's shoulders, "On to business…"

"Finally!" Nina huffed grumpily.

Ignoring her outburst, Sebastian went on, "I need something more on the casual side for Alois. As you can see, he wasn't outfitted in appropriate attire before he came into my care. I want you to either find something or make something immediately for him to wear. Both of us are very anxious to be reunited with Ciel," he grinned charmingly at the tailor.

Nina shuddered at the sight (she never had liked Sebastian) and whined, "But I've got soooooo many ideas for him!" She got a gleaming look in her eye, "Cocktail suits! Holiday three pieces! Casual two-pieces!"

At that Sebastian held up a hand to stop her, saying, "I get your point. You may make whatever you like later. Right now all I need is something that fits and looks decent."

Nina grumbled and sighed, "Fiiiiiiine…I'll get what you want. Promise I can make him some more later?"

"Of course! In fact, I'll be bringing both of my sons back sooner or later-"

"UWAAAAAAAA! I GET TO SEE CIEL TOO?! KYAAAAAAA!" Nina shrieked and leapt around her shop gleefully. Alois, on the other hand frowned with displeasure. He didn't particularly like the idea of his baby brother being attacked by this crazy woman.

Sebastian noticed and chuckled quietly. He had felt the exact same way when he had first brought Ciel to see Nina. The tailor had flipped out and nearly tackled the child to the ground in her excitement. Sebastian's quick reflexes were the only thing that saved the boy from crashing to the ground.

Alois still looked slightly grumpy so Sebastian hugged him closer and said to Nina, "All right, Nina. We need to go soon; how long will it take you to get Alois suitable clothes?"

Nina whined for a moment but shot off into the depths of the shop and returned in a few moments carrying a pair of dark, navy blue slacks with a matching vest, a black leather belt, and a white button-up shirt. She trotted over to them and dumped the outfit onto Alois's head, "There, all done. Now shoo…" she pushed the two of them out the shop's door, "I've got a client coming in for a fitting soon. I'll see you guys later!" Nina gave each of them a hug and said one last thing, "Be sure to come back with Ciel next time~!"

"Yes, yes, Nina," Sebastian sighed quietly with relief, "Have a nice rest of your day."

"I will~!" She slammed the door behind her.

Now that she was gone, Alois relaxed and said as they walked over to the still waiting carriage, "Goodness…she certainly was…interesting."

Sebastian laughed, replying with, "You don't know the half of it," at the incredulous look Alois gave him, he laughed again and went on, "She was even worse when she first met Ciel."

"You let THAT meet Ciel?!" Alois gaped in astonishment, "Why?"

"Because she's an old friend and has impeccable taste in clothing. If it weren't for her dislike of people older than eighteen, I would go to her every time I needed a new outfit," he lifted the clothes Nina had dumped on Alois off the boy's head and ushered him back into the waiting carriage, "Let's head back then, hm?"

Alois brightened immediately and nodded happily. Once in the carriage, Alois quickly pulled on the clothes Nina had given him. Sebastian frowned when he saw the scars littered across his son's body. With how happy and excitable the boy acted, he'd almost forgotten that Alois had, just hours ago, been mercilessly locked up in a cage and treated like an animal on a daily basis.

As the blonde settled back in his seat after changing, he grinned at Sebastian. His smile faded a bit when he saw the doctor's expression. "Did I do something wrong, Sebastian?"

Sebastian jolted out of his trance and blinked a few times at the boy, "Beg pardon?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Alois leaned forward with a worried (and more than a little frightened) look in his bright blue eyes.

"Oh dear, no, little one," Sebastian smiled gently at him and ruffled his hair, "I was just thinking…" he trailed off, not wanting to embarrass the boy.

Alois wanted to push him to keep talking, but their arrival at Sebastian's large townhouse cut him off mid thought. Suddenly, he felt the nervousness he remembered feeling on the train come back with full force. He was paralyzed and hardly heard Sebastian say, "Here we are, Alois."

All Alois could hear were his own frantic thoughts, _What if he's mad at me for abandoning him? What if he doesn't want me to intrude in his new life? What do I do if he doesn't care that I'm back? What if he wants to know about what happened after I left him with Sebastian? What if he feels bad for not being with me? What if…what if…what if…what if…_

Sebastian, knowing a panic attack when he saw one, slowly moved to grab the blonde's shoulders. He carefully rubbed his hands up and down Alois's arms and said, "Alois, I need you to breathe. Come on, little one. In and out…in and out…in and out. Everything is all right. Whatever you are afraid of can hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you, or Ciel. Don't be afraid. You are safe."

Alois coughed and choked on a few sobs as he tried to do as Sebastian said. His mind continued to whirl madly as more scenarios cruelly shaped themselves. After a few moments of even breathing and murmured reassurances, Alois was able to calm down enough to speak. "S-sorry. I guess I kind of psyched myself out," he sighed quietly and leaned his forehead against Sebastian's shoulder.

The doctor smiled slightly and rubbed the back of the boy's head, saying, "It's all right. Feel better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Alois leaned back and took one more calming breath, "I'm ready to go in now."

"Good!" Sebastian helped Alois out of the carriage and paid the driver, "Have a nice rest of your day, Gerald."

"Ya do the 'ame, m'ster 'bastian," came the reply from the driver before he snapped the reigns over the backs of his horses and drove off.

"Now then…this way, Alois," Sebastian led his son up the steps to his front door and pulled out his keys.

Before he could unlock the door, it was flung open by a very happy Undertaker. He had heard the jangle of Sebastian's keys and couldn't help himself. "You're back!" he sang joyously, "How did things…" Undertaker trailed off slowly as he noticed the blonde, blue-eyed boy standing next to Sebastian, smirking slightly as he observed the odd mortician.

"Hiya! I'm Alois. Nice to meet you," Alois bowed politely, before bobbing back up with a wide grin on his face.

For a few minutes, Undertaker just stood there staring at Alois through his bangs. Eventually, he shook it off and yelped, as he tackled the boy in a death-grip of a hug, "OHMYGOSH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE REALLY HERE!"

Alois laughed, saying, "I can't either! Who are you anyway?"

"Me? Ah," Undertaker pulled back and composed himself enough to answer Alois's question, "Call me Undertaker. I'm sort of like Ciel's uncle."

"I see," Alois tilted his head to the side and glanced up and down the taller man, "Is Undertaker some sort of nickname? Or…?"

Sebastian, feeling a little left out of the conversation, replied for his friend, "Undertaker got the nickname when he was young and it kind of stuck. He refers to it as his real name now." Said friend nodded enthusiastically at the short explanation. "Well, Alois," Sebastian continued, "Why don't we head inside? You must be dying to see Ciel again."

Alois was about to readily agree, when Undertaker stepped away from the doorframe, revealing the blue-haired boy Alois had given up so many years ago. Ciel had come to the front room after hearing Undertaker shriek. He now was standing stock still, paralyzed at the sight of the blonde he had missed for so long.

"C-Ciel?" Alois said his baby brother's name hesitantly, as if he might lose the name if he said it any louder, "Ciel, is that you?" He knew it was, oh how he knew it was, but he was scared. Scared of startling the boy, scared of not being recognized, scared of a bunch of different things all at once.

But he didn't have to be afraid. Ciel wasn't startled (in fact, he was pretty calm considering the circumstances) and he knew exactly who he was looking at. "Acchan..." Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he murmured the name he had wanted to call out all these years, "Acchan…you're here. You're finally here…" The tears were steadily flowing now and Ciel did nothing to stop them. All he did was run to his brother, his Acchan.

Alois did the same, meeting him half-way and scooping him up in the air like he used to when Ciel was little. All the while he kept crying out, "Ciel! Ciel! My Ciel!" They stayed latched together like that for almost five minutes before a barrage of questions came flowing out of them at the exact same time.

"Are you okay, Acchan?"

"How have you been, Ciel?"

"Master wasn't too hard on you, was he?"

"I want to know everything about your new life!"

"What happened after you gave me to Sebastian?"

"How is your eye?"

Back and forth they went like this for some time before they both finished with the same line, " _I missed you so much!_ " and pulled each other back into a hug.

While they were shooting questions at each other, Sebastian gave Undertaker a quick run-down as to what transpired over the past few days. The two of them decided to let the brothers spend some time alone so they walked into the den where Grell, Tanaka, and the rest of the servants had been told to wait.

As soon as they walked in they were accosted by Grell. The red-head waved his arms about and yelped, "Is everything all right? Were you able to get Alois back okay? Was Ciel happy to see him? TELL US WHAT HAPPENED!"

"All right! All right!" Sebastian laughed and pushed him back a few steps, "Yes, everything is all right. Lau and I had no trouble getting Alois back and Ciel was ecstatic to see him. They're out in the hall, getting reacquainted." He motioned with his head at the two boys in the foyer, with a grin. Everyone in the room (except for Tanaka; he just 'hohoho'ed, like usual) squealed and 'aww'ed at the adorable scene.

Out in the hall, Ciel and Alois were talking quietly, they had gotten their immediate concerns for each other out of the way so regular conversation was far more enjoyable. Ciel was the one speaking at the moment, "Your clothes look pretty loose. Did Master keep you locked up in that dreadful cage, Acchan?"

"Yeah," Alois rubbed his baby brother's back and held him close, "After I got you out, he was pretty upset. Every week or so he'd bring me into his office and 'interrogate' me. I always said the same thing, but he never listened," he sighed a little, pulled back to look Ciel in the face, and changed the subject, "You're looking really good. I'm amazed at how tall you've gotten since I last saw you!" Alois patted the soft blue locks cheerfully (Ciel looked mighty pleased at this statement). As his hand slipped from the boy's hair, he caught a hold of the black string keeping Ciel's eyepatch in place. His smile dimmed with grief as he remembered Ciel's pained screams. "Looks like you've gotten used to not using it…"

Ciel let out a short giggle, "Mm…it took a while, but Da…er…Sebastian helped me figure out how to deal with it," he grinned widely up at his big brother, "I hardly notice it now!"

Alois gave him a grin in return, "Good!" He paused for a minute before continuing, "Oh, and don't worry about calling Sebastian…well, whatever you're used to calling him."

"Huh?" Ciel looked confused at his words.

"You were about to call him, Dad, right?" Alois waited for Ciel to nod, then went on, "Feel free to call him that. I'll know who you're talking about!" He paused again (this time more for dramatic effect than to think), "I should probably start calling him that too, to be honest."

This instantly put Ciel on high alert, "WhatdoyoumeanAcchan?!" he slurred together, jumping up and down a few times, excitedly.

It was exactly the response Alois wanted. He chuckled and bumped his forehead against Ciel's, "Sebastian told me on our way here that he'd adopt me too. Now, we're officially brothers again!"

For a few moments Ciel didn't move. At first, Alois thought he hadn't heard what had been said, but reasoned to himself that he had said it loud enough and clearly enough. _Why isn't he reacting the-_

Cut off mid-thought, Alois was suddenly tackled to the ground as Ciel shrieked happily. Sebastian, hearing the commotion, ran in from the den and laughed at the sight of the two of them shouting and giggling as they mock wrestled on the floor. The doctor allowed it to go on for a bit longer before lifting the both of them up by their waists, saying, "All right you two, that's enough. Ciel, why don't you show Alois around while Tanaka-san and Bard get dinner ready, hm?"

"Okay, Dad!" Ciel grabbed Alois's hand as soon as Sebastian put them down but paused before he could run off to do as he was told. He turned around and looked right at his father, "Thanks for bringing him home, Dad. Welcome home and I love you!" He bounded over to his father and leapt into a great bear hug which Sebastian returned with an equal amount of enthusiasm.

"I love you too, son," Sebastian held Ciel close and kissed the top of his head before setting him down and gently ruffling his hair, "Go on then, little one. Have fun with your brother."

"M'kay!" Ciel sang with laughter and joy, "Call us when dinner's ready!"

"I will, Ciel," Sebastian smiled as he watched his sons scamper away together.

"Finally have your family completely whole, huh, Sebastian?" Undertaker sashayed up behind his friend and nudged him with his shoulder.

Sebastian nudged him back as he replied, "Yes I do, Undertaker," he glanced over his shoulder at his friend, "We're finally complete."

Ͽ-Ͼ-Ͽ-Ͼ

And we truly were. After so many years, we were finally complete. We lived together, happily and contentedly, for far longer than we ever were apart. With our reunion, so ends my story. I thank you greatly for reading thus far and I hope you have enjoyed my tale. Good night.

Yours truly,

Ciel Michalis

* * *

 **Hope you liked it!**

 **Koko, this chapter is dedicated entirely to you. I literally sat myself down after seeing your reviews and told myself I had to get to work on this again. I hope you liked this chapter as much as you seemed to like the others! Thank you so much for your support! :D**

 **I'm so glad you guys have all stuck with my silly story for so long and I can't wait to delve deeper into it with you! :D :D :D**

 **Have a great rest of your day! :)**

 **VGirl~**


	7. A Trip to the Beach: Part One

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been really, really, really busy with school and life in general. Also I've recently found myself in the world of kpop…most specifically BTS. Oh. My. Gosh. I freaking LOVE those adorable Bangtan boys. They are the CUTEST MOST AMAZING CREATURES I HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! XD XD XD XD**

 **Soooooo…yeah…I've been binge watching as many of their videos as I possibly can with absolutely no regard to any of my fan fics. I've also been kinda working on some original stuff and it's really taken up a lot of my attention. (*whispers* if you ever see a story out there that seems similar to my style…ehehehehehehehehehehehehe~~~ it maaaaaay just be mine~~ X3 *end of redundant internet whispering*)**

 **Anyway, I should probably respond first and foremost to my dear, sweet, extremely dedicated fan, Koko:**

 **I promise I am okay! XD**  
 **I'm just still working out the kinks to my story and figuring out my own life so I'm very sorry I'm taking so long buuuuuuut I will do my best to continue updating this story a little more frequently *i say as i get distracted by Kookie being a sassy makane and Rap Mon breaking something***  
 **Thank you so much for your reviews. I actually sat down at my laptop and finished working on this chapter because I got a notification for your review. Soooooo… LOVE YOU DEARIE AND THIS CHAPTER IS SO TOTALLY WRITTEN IN YOUR HONOR! ^3^**

 **OKAY SO FIRST THINGS FIRST.**

 **Lemme explain a bit about this short story. IT IS NOT COMPLETE. I will be updating additional chapters to this side story. It is taking place after PAM's ending (i.e.: Alois is living with Sebby and Ciel and Claude is out of the picture…atm) but only by about a year or so. This side story is going to contain as much of Ciel and Alois's past as I can come up with and will also lead into the sick fic I have been promising. It'll either be in a flashback or will take place in a later chapter.**

 **This is still a continuation of Papa, Acchan, and Me just so you guys know. The story itself is (in my opinion) far from over. There is a lot I still want to show you if I can only get it out of my crazy head and onto paper.**

 **All right, enough of my chattering! Onto the good stuff! XD**

 **Without further ado, I humbly present to you (after faaaaaaar too long) Papa, Acchan, and Me: A Trip to the Beach**

* * *

"Ciel! Alois! Are you boys almost ready?" Sebastian called to his sons from the doorway. He waved at the carriage driver who was finishing up piling the luggage onto the back of his vehicle and called out again, "The carriage is here, come on you two!"

"Coming!" Two voices rang out simultaneously as their owners came tripping happily down the hallway.

Alois, the taller and older between them, jumped up and down in place like an excited child when they reached their dad, "I can't WAIT to get there, Sebby-vati!*

Sebastian laughed and ruffled his hair, "Me either, kiddo. But first we have to actually get in the carriage." Alois giggled at the lighthearted scold before grabbing Ciel's hand and leaping down the steps with him. They jumped into the carriage and waited for Sebastian to clamber in after them. He gently tapped on the roof, alerting the driver that they were ready. He snapped the reins and they were off.

The trip was a long one, but to the small family it seemed to take no time at all. They entertained themselves by playing various card games. Sebastian almost always trounced his boys, save the few times when he pretended to lose just so they wouldn't give up on winning. A few times, Ciel and Alois (veritable geniuses in Sebastian's fatherly opinion) teamed up giving Sebastian a run for his money, but he managed to pull off some expert moves and win.

It took them about six hours to reach their destination and when they did, Alois was the first to leap out of the carriage and take a big breath, shouting, "THE BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEACH! YAAAAAAAAAY!" Waves crashed in the distance and, from their vantage point, they could see the ocean breaking over a long stretch of white sand.

Sebastian and Ciel jumped out behind him and Ciel ran up to his side. The younger boy hugged his brother and said, "We finally made it!"

The two of them skipped around and sang with joy while Sebastian helped the carriage driver unload their luggage. He thanked the driver and said, "Please meet us back here three days from now."

The driver chuckled at the sight of the two boys and replied as he watched them, "Yessir. I hope ye have lottsa fun with yer boys, Sir."

"I'm sure we will," Sebastian smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "See you Sunday."

The driver nodded and climbed up onto his seat, snapping the reins over the horses' backs. As he rode away, Sebastian turned to look at his sons dancing about in excitement. Their antics brought a happy smile to his face. "All right, boys!" He clapped his hands derisively, "Let's get the luggage in the house and then we can head to the beach before dinner!" Ciel and Alois yipped with glee and hastened to do as they were told.

Alois grabbed one bag with each hand and strong-armed them up to the porch of the sizable home resting on a cliff above the beach while Ciel did his best to lift a bag far too big for his slight frame. Sebastian chuckled at his attempt and went to help him, giving the house a final glance of appreciation.

When Sebastian had first bought the place it was a derelict pile of sticks and bricks, but after a lot of work (and some of Grell's input on the interior design) he had transformed it into a lovely little cottage. It was quite different from its neighboring homes in that the color scheme was rather dark for a beach house (black, grey, and crimson) but Sebastian liked it and couldn't care less about what people thought of a home he hardly ever stayed in.

He didn't often come to the beach, preferring to spend his free time alone in the snowy woods rather than in the sand, but when Undertaker had mentioned to Ciel and Alois what fun he and Sebastian had had there years ago when they were both in medical school the boys leapt upon his words. Sebastian couldn't think of another time when they were both quite so insistent on doing something. Naturally he was always seeking to make them happy, so he began making arrangements for them to spend a weekend at the beach house.

They had left Friday afternoon, after Sebastian had returned from work and the boys from school**, and would stay until after dinner on Sunday so they could be back Monday to their regular lives. The boys were ecstatic to be taking a small vacation in the middle of the school year and Sebastian extremely appreciated being able to completely ignore work for a weekend. It always seemed to find him if he stayed at home, but out here, no one could bother him and he has a full two days of spending time with his sons to look forward to.

Once all the luggage was inside, Sebastian gave the boys a tour of the house and helped them take their bags to their rooms. He first showed them the living room, since it was what they first saw upon crossing the threshold.

In one corner was a brick fireplace and across from it sat a large L shaped sofa. In the middle of the floor was a large coffee table set on top of a large bohemian rug. There were a few books laid casually on the table and across from one of the sides of the couch were floor to ceiling windows looking out on the sea.

Attached to the living room was a spacious dining room. Next to it was the kitchen, hidden behind double doors. Across from the kitchen were the bedrooms. There were a total of three lining a spacious hallway. The left one would be Alois's room, the right Ciel's, and the one at the end of the hall, the master bedroom, was Sebastian's.

Sebastian was very excited to show his boys their bedrooms. He and Undertaker had redecorated the two rooms that were originally guest rooms to suit the boy's personal styles. He led the two boys down the short stretch of hallway and asked, "Okay, so which one of you wants to see their room first?"

Alois knew that Ciel would want to go first, but wouldn't be willing to mention it, so he chirped, "I wanna see Ciel's room first!"

Sebastian nodded at him and walked to the door on the right. He placed his hand on the knob and motioned for Ciel to step forward a bit. He did, with Alois right behind him. Sebastian smiled at the two of them and pushed open the door.

The room was decorated with light blue patterned paper and all of the furniture was made out of darkened wood, The canopy bed had navy blue curtains and sheets, both made out of the finest silk Sebastian could obtain, and across from it was a large wardrobe with some tailored beach clothes.

After Ciel and Alois had run around the room shrieking with joy, Sebastian was able to reign them in enough to lead them over to the door to Alois's room. Alois was bouncing about like an excited puppy and Ciel still had the gleeful gleam in his eye that had appeared when he saw his room. Sebastian paused for a few seconds, enjoying his son's anticipation immensely, before revealing Alois's room.

The room was almost identical in size and shape to Ciel's, but the color scheme, decorations, and furniture were all very different. The walls were papered in varying shades of purple and yellow while the furniture was all made out of golden varnished wood.

It was exactly the kind of thing Alois would love and he had no problem being vocal about his appreciation. He skipped about the room and sang out many 'thank you's as he did so. Ciel followed him, but just shouted with glee due to his overwhelming excitement. Sebastian laughed as he watched them for a while.

A few minutes later, he clapped his hands once making the boys stop and stand at attention (Sebastian was never one to really tell his boys how to act but it was agreed that if he ever clapped his hands just once, they were to fall silent, keep still, and listen to what he had to say). He smiled at the two of them and replaced his hands to their usual position behind his back as he said, "Well, then. Do you like your rooms?" The two boys both bounced in place with happiness and said 'yes.' After chuckling again, Sebastian went on, "Good. In that case I'd say it's about time for us to hit the beach, don't you think?"

At this statement the boys crowed with joy and rushed to get their swim trunks on. Sebastian left them to admire their new clothes (they had packed some of their old things as well, but that was only because Sebastian didn't want them finding out about Nina's new creations) as he went to change in his own room.

In contrast to his son's brightly colored rooms and airy atmospheres, Sebastian's room was painted pitch black and all of the windows had heavy drapes blocking out any light. The furniture was of dark crimson colored mahogany and there are hardly any decorations. The few that were in the room were mostly for practical use (mirrors, lamps, clocks, candle stands) and they were all either the same black as the walls or blood red.

Sebastian flicked on the lights (they didn't do much, the room was still pretty dark, but Sebastian didn't seem to mind) and began unbuttoning his shirt as he walked over to his armoire. He changed quickly, hearing Ciel shout to Alois that he was finished and would wait in the living room, and began heading to the living room. As he passed by Alois's room, he saw the boy standing with his back to the door, shirt removed as the blonde looked through all his new outfits.

Usually, Sebastian would have simply walked on but he had been thinking about Alois quite a bit recently. The blonde's usually chipper mood (dampened occasionally by the instances where his bipolar depression took hold of him and refused to let go) seemed dulled and forced. As he watched Alois from the hall, the blonde turned slightly, revealing one of his worse scars from the time he spent with Claude.

Sebastian flinched noticeably at the sight. It always pained him to see the results of his incapability to save his elder son from the harm that had been done to him. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to compose himself. When he opened his eyes, Alois had laid out two tops and was staring at them both, trying to decide which to wear. Sebastian smiled as the blonde hummed and held them both up to himself, looking at his reflection in a mirror as he did so. Sebastian tapped gently on Alois's door, saying, "Having trouble picking what to wear, Alois?" as he stepped through the doorway.

The blonde gave a small start and turned to look at his adoptive father. For half a second Sebastian couldn't read Alois's expression at all. It was like the boy was holding up a mask to his face. It was gone so quick though that Sebastian almost didn't notice it. After the moment was over, Alois grinned sheepishly and sang out in reply, "Yaaaaa~ Unfortunately there are so many wonderful things I just can't make up my mind!"

Sebastian smiled, ignored what he just saw, and asked, "Is anything bothering you Alois?"

"Why would you say that, Sebby-vati?" Alois turned back to the bed and quickly pulled on one of the shirts, not caring which at this point.

"I noticed it when Undertaker first mentioned that I owned a beach house," Sebastian leaned against the doorframe and watched as his son avoided his gaze, "For some reason that both piqued your interest and made you sad. I could see it on your face. So," he tilted his head to the side, "Will you tell me?"

Alois pulled at the hem of his shirt. In his heart he wanted more than anything to tell Sebastian everything… to let out the tears he had been holding down for so long and be held like he had seen Sebastian hold Ciel. His head, however, refused to let him. Alois had grown accustomed to hiding his feelings and now that he had no reason to, it was hard for him to open up. He knew that Sebastian only had his best interests at heart, but he still couldn't bring himself to talk.

The blonde opened his mouth, as if to speak, but no words came out. He was clutching the hem of his shirt so tightly now that his hands were practically shaking. It was taking every fiber of his being to refrain from bursting into tears and telling Sebastian everything.

The doctor noticed this and walked up to him. He seated himself on Alois's bed, right in front of the boy struggling within his own mind. He took Alois's hands in his own and gave him a kind smile, "Alois. Whatever it is you are afraid of, don't be. I won't hurt you, nor will I be angry or upset or anything else. I am only concerned about you." He reached up to his son's face and gently stroked his thumb against the boy's pale skin, "You are my son and I love you more than anything else. Don't be afraid, little one. I will always protect you."

At this, all of Alois's mental barriers were completely broken down. He choked on a sob and clapped his hands to his mouth in a final desperate attempt to keep himself in line. Sebastian wouldn't let him hold his emotions in any longer though. The doctor pulled the teenager onto his lap like he did with Ciel (although Alois was a great deal bigger than Ciel, in Sebastian's arms there was no difference between them) and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, saying, "It's all right, little one. I'm here. Let it all out. I'll listen. I promise."

Alois let out another sob and clutched at Sebastian's shirt. The two of them sat like that for quite a while (so long that Ciel came tiptoeing over to see what was wrong; when Sebastian noticed the younger boy, he silently motioned for him to amuse himself for a bit), before Alois was able to speak coherently.

He took in a shuddering breath and rubbed his face on Sebastian's shirt in order to wipe the tears off his face. Sebastian smiled and readjusted his hold on the blonde, sensing that an explanation was coming.

Alois rubbed his eyes one last time and sat up a bit, before beginning to speak.

* * *

 ***Okay, so I spent a looooooooooot of time figuring out what to have Alois call Sebastian. I literally sat staring at my computer and researching names and stuff before this popped into my head. Sebby-vati doesn't really mean anything. Just so you don't get confused and go searching for a meaning. It is something I came up with. It's a mix between Sebastian's name and the German word vati, which means father or dad. So, Sebby …vati…Sebby-vati…'zere you go. (Btw: if you get that reference, please let me know in a review. It will make me very, very happy… XD)**

 ****Anyone wanna wager a guess at what school they go to? ^o^**  
 **Don't worry, it doesn't actually have anything to do with the story. I just want to know what you guys are imagining~ X3**

 **Sooooooooo? What do ya think? Am I still keeping you interested? Do you want to know more? Are there any problems you notice? Is there anything I can add to make this story better? Pleeeeeeease let me know in a review. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see what you guys think of my story.**

 **And I'm very sorry for the terrible cliffhanger, but I'm typing this at almost midnight (and i've got class tomorrow) and I can't think of where else to stop this without it being a loooooooot longer.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will try my best to get the next one out soon (iiiiiish).**

 **Love ya'll!**

 **VGirl~**


	8. A Trip to the Beach: Author's Note

**Hi all~**

 **I just wanted to let anyone reading this that  
a) I'm not dead  
b) I'm not sick  
and lastly  
c) I'M ALMOST DONE W THIS SEMESTER SO CHAPTERS WILL BE UP SOON! I ABSOLUTELY PROMISE! I've actually been revising what I had written and I think I like where it is going. I'm so so so sorry I have kept y'all in the dark for such a long time, but I'm definitely going to update more often over break. **

**Okeeee, so with that all said and done, thank you for sticking with me for such a crazy amount of time and I hope the chapters I upload later are up to your standards XD XD XD**

 **Wuv uuuuuuu~~~  
** **VGirl~**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Well...okay I guess I can't leave you guys hanging with Alois crying...so here's a tiny little sneak peek at what's in store for you! XD XD**

* * *

 _Alois let out another sob and clutched at Sebastian's shirt. The two of them sat like that for quite a while So long in fact, Ciel decided to come tiptoeing over to see what was wrong. When Sebastian noticed the younger boy, he silently motioned for him to amuse himself for a bit. Even after that, it was another five minutes or so before Alois was able to speak coherently._

 _He took in a shuddering breath and rubbed his face on Sebastian's shirt in order to wipe the tears off his face. Sebastian smiled and readjusted his hold on the blonde, sensing that an explanation was coming._

 _Alois rubbed his eyes one last time and sat up a bit, before beginning to speak…_

Ciel and I have only ever been to the beach once before now. We went with our parents for Ciel's fifth birthday. It was the last time we ever saw them…

My father was a detective of sorts. Everyone called him the Queen's Watch Dog but I never really understood what that meant. At any rate, one of the jobs he took on was bringing down a slave trading ring. For a long time it was all he talked about. He couldn't tell us much about the details but he seemed to enjoy, somehow, playing cat and mouse with the people in charge of the ring. Eventually he finally caught up with them and destroyed the group. Going to the beach was as much a reward for himself as it was a way of having fun on Ciel's birthday.

Unfortunately, Claude has invested a great deal of money into the ring. And since Father had destroyed it all that money was gone. Claude was furious enough to track Father down and plan out his revenge. Ciel and myself were a part of that revenge.

Two hours after we arrived at the beach, my mother was approached by a man.

* * *

 **This is legitimately all I have right now. I had tried writing a little more but it came out sounding weird so I'm giving it another go. Hope you enjoyed it! XD**

 **Night luvs~ X3**


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